The 5th day of Ligue 1 had its last thrill for OM – Paris Saint-Germain, just before the break. The suspense, which we thought was fragile even before the start of this shock, finally took its toll this Sunday evening. For more than an hour, OM stood up to the best team in Europe, without ever giving in. It took a brilliant move from Désiré Doué and a header from the incoming Ferran Torres to change the match (66th, 0-1), then a second goal from Marquinhos (74th, 1-2). Despite four defeats in a row in the legs, the Marseillais nevertheless delivered a coherent first period, with the ambition of imposing things on their opponent. Even the injury to Paixao (30th), released after a harmless contact with Zaire-Emery, did not dampen Marseille’s momentum.
Bruno Genesio’s men could even return to the locker room with the feeling of having left a few cartridges on the way. Neal Maupay will surely blame himself for a few more hours for having missed the 1-0 ball, alone, with this completely missed recovery from the penalty spot (38th). As for Amine Gouiri, he may especially regret the decision of François Letexier not to have awarded him a penalty after contact with Doué in the area. Opposite, Paris had lacked sharpness in its intentions. There was this save from De Lange in front of Nuno Mendes at the start of the match, this lob from Ousmane Dembélé just above De Lange’s bar, and then that’s pretty much it.
OM may have regrets
After the break, the heated moments intensified on De Lange’s goal, but Kvaratskhelia, like Neves, did not hit the target. No more than Neal Maupay, who was all wrong with his feet. In the same configuration as in the first period, he redacted a golden action at the penalty spot, losing his balance before arming his left foot (63rd). Ferran Torres was going to find the balance to unblock the situation. Entering the game seven minutes earlier, the Spanish world champion catapulted the ball with his head on a remote-controlled cross from Désiré Doué (66th, 0-1). De Lange was beaten, but denied him the 2-0 goal behind (69th).
The Parisian joy was fleeting, but that of the Marseillais hardly lasted longer. Angel Gomes, entered instead. de Paixao, equalized after having mystified Pacho (72nd, 1-1), then Marquinhos put the Parisians in front upon receiving a cross from Nuno Mendes (74th, 1-2). Forgotten by Emerson, the Parisian captain was defeated by De Lange on his first attempt, but not the second. Timothy Weah closed a hellish two-minute break by being sent off. The American received a second yellow card for an anti-playing foul on Nuno Mendes. At 10, the Marseillais showed courage but failed to realize their good intentions. Paris still assumes its status in pain and achieves a second success in L1, climbing to 6th place. OM, the only host club not to have won this weekend in the championship, suffered a fourth defeat (1-2) in L1 despite a generally consistent performance.
