Olympique de Marseille won against Racing Club de Lens this Sunday for the 31st day of Ligue 1 (2-1).
The weeks go by and the refrain remains the same, in the Marseille city: OM must no longer burn their jokers. Snagged by Nice last Wednesday (2-2), Jean-Louis Gasset’s team once again missed the opportunity to make a jump in the standings to get closer to European places. But OM could boast of seeing their competitors progress in slow motion, too. And Lens was one of them. At the heart of a season marked by their return to the European scene, Franck Haise’s men blew hot and cold.
This tempting poster was therefore undecided this Sunday evening at the Vélodrome. But Jean-Louis Gasset had announced the color: there was no question of neglecting this Ligue 1 match in anticipation of the Europa League semi-final against Atalanta on Thursday. The OM coach had established his strong men for this meeting, with a starting eleven led by the inevitable Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and executives Jordan Veretout, Geoffrey Kondogbia and Leonardo Balerdi. Jonathan Clauss was also present at the kick-off against his former club.
OM didn’t give up
There was no observation round. From the outset, it was the Marseillais who took the upper hand in this balance of power. And unsurprisingly, the inevitable Aubameyang found the opening. The Gabonese striker was the author of a perfectly adjusted recovery after receiving a cross from Ndiaye (1-0, 1st). We must not arrive late at the Vélodrome… A goal which obviously stung the Lensois. Franck Haise’s men reacted, but they lacked realism to make their good streaks fruitful, like Elye Wahi lacking confidence on a gift from the Marseille defense (11th).
Opportunities abounded from one end to the other. Aubameyang could have doubled the lead but he also failed a few seconds later (12th). An unbridled scenario which has long benefited the Marseillais, efficient in managing their advantage. This was without counting on the Blood and Gold revolt in the last quarter of an hour. Launched into the arena, Wesley Saïd equalized with a powerful uncrossed helmet shot (1-1, 77th).
But we have to believe that this OM team has marrow when it’s up against the wall. Because at the end of the suspense, the Gasset gang took advantage of a huge restart error to find the opening thanks to Pape Gueye, author of a perfect sequence (2-1, 85th). The last victorious shot of this pleasant and indecisive match. OM hit hard to offer themselves a completely crazy final sprint.
