Reinvigorated by its qualification for the quarter-finals of the Europa League Conference, in the middle of the week in Basel, Olympique de Marseille ended its bad series at the Vélodrome in the league.
And the Marseille club chose the best time to find colors at home, taking the best of Nice (2-1), this Sunday evening at the end of the 29th day of Ligue 1.
Milik still decisive
All it took was one goal for the Olympians to topple the “dolphin shock”: and it was the Polish Arkadiusz Milik who made the difference with a penalty obtained by Ünder in stoppage time in the first half ( 1-0, 45th+4). At the end of the game, Bakambu took advantage of the spaces abandoned by the Gym to come and seal Marseille’s success.
A victory that is worth gold, since it allows OM to regain second place in Rennes, impressive a few hours earlier against Metz (6-1), and to repel their evening opponent to three points. Admittedly, the battle for the podium is far from over, but it’s an excellent operation against a direct competitor, especially since the Marseille calendar until the end of the season (trips to Paris and Rennes, receptions de Lyon and Strasbourg) offers almost no joker to the team of Jorge Sampaoli.
Sampaoli’s choices paid off
The Argentinian technician, criticized for his choices in recent weeks, has undoubtedly regained some credit with the performance offered by his men this Sunday evening.
By choosing to start all his midfielders, even in unusual positions (Gerson and Rongier lined up as full-backs, for example), Sampaoli had planned to confiscate the ball from a Nice team who had come to La Canebière to wait and play counterattacks. -attack, as she had done so well in the Coupe de France (4-1 victory).
The Argentinian’s plan worked perfectly in the first half, although Marseille, until Milik’s penalty, struggled to create clear chances. Milik’s opener nevertheless rewarded the efforts of the locals.
Lopez intervenes, Bakambu hits the mark
Efforts that Payet and his teammates struggled to repeat after the rest, no doubt washed out by the sequence of matches. But a great Pau Lopez in goal prevented Nice from coming back. The Spaniard defeated Stengs (61st) then Delort (71st), before seeing Saliba narrowly divert a new attempt from the Algerian striker (77th).
But OM took advantage of Nice’s lack of realism to deliver the coup de grace, when Gerson found Bakambu’s header (2-0, 89′). This did not prevent Marseille from being scared until the end, with the reduction of Lemina’s score (2-1, 90th + 2).