Returning to Stade Rennais a few months earlier, Yoann Gourcuff set the Vélodrome on fire on March 18, 2016, with a double and a 5-2 victory which sealed the break between OM and its supporters.
Olympique de Marseille fell from a height on Sunday. While they were hoping for a fifth victory in a row in Ligue 1, the Marseillais lost 2-0 at Roazhon Park against Stade Rennais. Eight years ago to the day, OM also experienced a real nightmare against the Breton club, this time at the Vélodrome.
The tone of the evening was set even before kick-off since some of the supporters had decided not to enter the Vélodrome until fifteen minutes of play. “Too much pressure from the Vel’? You have a quarter of an hour to play 'liberated'”, could we read on a banner displayed in the Vélodrome. But this revolt did not have the expected effects. Quite the contrary.
After fifteen minutes of play, Stade Rennais led 3-0 thanks to three goals from Yoann Gourcuff, Diagne and Ousmane Dembélé and the CRS were left to deploy in front of the Vélodrome bends. There was indeed a reaction from Marseillais thanks to Florian Thauvin and Rolando but Yoann Gourcuff gave his team some fresh air by scoring his second goal of the evening.
His only two goals of the season
OM, who had a sixth match in a row without a victory in Ligue 1, fell further into crisis and Michel, who had to leave the Vélodrome on the sly, was dismissed a few weeks later. But the supporters were just as angry against their players and their managers, several unwelcome banners with Margarita Louis-Dreyfuss and Vincent Labrune flourishing in the stands.
Yoann Gourcuff, for his part, could enjoy it. His goal scored in the 4th minute with a dry strike from the edge of the area was the first since his return to Stade Rennais the previous summer. And this double even came ten years to the day after his last goal scored with the Rouge et Noir. It's nice. “The start of the season was complicated due to injuries but I hope the machine is underway”, he whispered after the match. Alas, these were his only goals of the season.
