In recent weeks, Olympique de Marseille seemed to have resumed its forward march in the league by chaining two straight wins against Troyes (1-0) then Nantes (1-0) on Wednesday. But the Olympians fell from high at home against Brest (2-1), for the 17the Ligue 1 day, Saturday 4 December.
Marseille had nevertheless entered the game better, in the footsteps of a Gerson finally found. The Brazilian midfielder (24), the club’s most expensive summer rookie this season (around 20 million euros), symbolized the return to good form of the Phocaeans, after an air gap during a month of November in slow motion. Barely since the start of the season, Gerson opened the scoring against Brest (29e), his second goal in as many matches after the one scored against Nantes.
Six wins in a row for Stade Brest
But nothing has stood up to the Brest residents for more than a month. Neither a Stade-Velodrome which displayed an influx of more than 50,000 spectators, nor a history of unflattering confrontations in Ligue 1 when they travel to Marseille (ten defeats and two draws before Saturday). Michel Der Zakarian’s men overthrew Marseille thanks to Romain Faivre on penalty (53e) then a magnificent volley from the right of Franck Honorat (71e).
Enough to offer Stade Brestois a sixth success in a row – the only team in this dynamic in Ligue 1. The Bretons thus plunge OM into doubt by inflicting their first defeat in the league since October 3 (2-0 in Lille) . Rennes, Nice and Lens now have the opportunity to steal the runner-up position that the Marseillais still temporarily occupy.
This defeat also offers Paris-Saint-Germain the honorary title of autumn champion, even before their match in Lens at 9 p.m.