Marseille struggles in the tournament (ninth), and consoles itself in Europe: Thursday’s winner in Athens at AIK Stadium (2-0) At the end of a match that was still disjointed and not completely controlled, Marseille is now in an ideal position to continue playing. Their adventure in the European League.
With eight points in four games, Gennaro Gattuso’s men retain top spot in Group B, one step ahead of Brighton. If they beat Ajax Amsterdam at the end of November at the Velodrome in the fifth round, they will secure one of the top two places.
However, not everything was really clear on Thursday in Athens and we had to wait until the last seconds and the surge of Jordan Verto, who sent Ismaila Sarr through for a 2-0 goal (90+3), to really seal the win.
Before that, in once again a great atmosphere between two teams with friendly fans, Marseille often left the same impression as on Sunday against Lille (0-0), a collective and less established impression than its opponents. The September crisis left some traces, and this is normal.
But before the swing, Marseille had the advantage of getting right into the game and opening the scoring from a corner kick, one of the declared strengths of their Greek rival.
Jonathan Klaus volleyed the ball perfectly towards the head of Chancel Mbemba (1-0, min. 25) and everyone went to celebrate in front of the camera by waving Valentin Rongier’s shirt.
The injury of Marseille’s captain, who could be out for several months, is a real problem, but the rise of Geoffrey Kondogbia is the real solution.
A stream of angles
Captain due to the combined absences of Rongier and Samuel Gigo, the former Altico Madrid was one of Marseille’s rare regulars during a first spell that was more due to atmosphere than technical quality, and is controversial.
On this record, Vitinya was having a particularly difficult time before the break. He was brought in to replace Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who was also injured, and the Portuguese began wasting an absolutely golden chance, alone in front of goal less than eight meters away.
He then showed his inaccuracy and lack of confidence, which is emblematic of OM’s current attacking difficulties.
After that, OM didn’t control much and it was worse for half an hour after the break. After that, it took several very good saves from Pau Lopez (51, 55, 89) to save Provence.
The best in the second half. Vitinha, for his part, had two new good chances, but fell to Athanasiadis, who made a great save, and then from outside the post.
Before Sarr’s liberating goal and the silence of the Agia Sophia stadium, there was still a stream of corner kicks to defend amidst a terrible noise, but Marseille held on and secured a reward they are often denied in L1.
On Sunday, before the international break that will once again come in handy for Gattuso, they return to the Championship with a trip to Lens. In L1, they haven’t won for a month.
