Frustration, anger, joy, disappointment, liberation… Olympique Marseille went through all the stages on Sunday afternoon, September 22, but ended with the strongest emotion: that of happiness at having won a match numerically inferior in an unlikely scenario on the pitch of Lyon (3-2), during the 5thmy League 1 matchday.
Because this crazy encounter began with a lightning-fast dismissal, in the fifth minute, of defender Leonardo Balerdi, which weakened the already vulnerable Marseille defence. The OM captain was eliminated after his only two fouls, one indisputable from the 15th minute.my second and another obtained thanks to the experience and cunning of Lyon’s Alexandre Lacazette, clinging to the Argentine’s shirt from the start of the action.
From then on, the tempting shock announced was transformed into attack-defense and very quickly it seemed impossible for OM to hold on. Late everywhere and with a manipulated and tortured hinge on every deep pass, Marseille suffered terribly with a return from Gift Orban on the crossbar (10my), a face to face won by goalkeeper Geronimo Rulli against the Nigerian (14my) or an extreme rescue by Valentin Rongier after an action by Corentin Tolisso (19my).
Above all, Rulli saved a penalty from Lacazette (45+3), who missed the opportunity to score his first goal of the season. The Argentine goalkeeper saved his second penalty of the season, confirming a certain Argentine know-how in this area.
Anger at refereeing decisions
Despite the miraculous 0-0 draw at half-time, the Provençal camp was angry after this quick red card and this penalty which they would have liked to see cancelled for Alexandre Lacazette being offside. At half-time, Mehdi Benatia, advisor to Marseille president Pablo Longoria, went to tell referee Benoît Bastien how badly he thought of his whistle. “It’s not possible. There are too many questionable things about the first half and the entire match.”he explained into the microphone of the DAZN broadcaster.
After the break, Lyon quickly found their chance, thanks to a nice header from Duje Caleta-Car, a former Marseillais player (1-0, 55my). Despite this advantage and numerical superiority, OL found a way to put themselves in danger. Quite irrationally, OM came back thanks to the forgotten players, Pol Lirola and Ulisse Garcia, the unlikely heroes of the evening.
The Spanish full-back, who returned to Marseille after two lackluster seasons on loan on the right and left, scored first (69my1-1), before serving to Garcia, who left the Marseille loft just three weeks ago, for the 2-1 goal (82my).
The crazy joy of Fabrizio Ravanelli
Another lofted goalkeeper, Rayan Cherki, brought OL to a 2-2 draw in added time (90+3) and the matter seemed settled: this surprising match would end with this scoreline. But there was still a little reserve of madness in the Marseille team: at the kick-off, the Englishman Jonathan Rowe went off on his own and struck a magnificent shot to fool Lucas Perri and give his team the craziest victory (3-2, 90+5), petrifying the Groupama Stadium.
Enough to bring wild joy to Fabrizio Ravanelli, the former great OM and Italian striker and now ambassador for the Marseille club, who came to kiss everyone at the end, starting with the coach, his compatriot Roberto De Zerbi.
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“I am very happy to have seen this mentality, in the duels, in the desire to win 2-2. Seeing the happy eyes of my players at the end, that is the magic of football”the Marseille coach was delighted.
“At 45% of our potential”
This victory with character allows OM and its 13 points to keep pace with the leaders Paris, who were held in Reims (1-1) on Saturday, and Monaco, who won on Sunday afternoon in Le Havre (3-1). Paris Saint-Germain still lead on goal difference (+13 against +9 at OM and +8 at Monaco) but it is the Marseilles who have carried out the most spectacular operation of the day and marked their territory.
“It’s only three points, but maybe they will leave a mark because we beat Lyon on their field with a numerical inferiority”said Marseille striker Neal Maupay.
“We continue to do very well on the field and with everything that happens off it, a dynamic is created that we feel when we watch our games. said midfielder Valenton Rongier. There is still room for improvement. The coach says we are at 45% of our potential. »
“It’s a shame”
Lyon, for their part, sank again and only appeared in the 14th minute.my place with four points from five games. “It is a hard blow to morale, admitted OL coach Pierre Sage. We don’t make it possible, we give three points to the opponent. The scenario is crazy. If we do it first, we will take the mental lead of this match. But history was not written like that. »
“It’s a shamereprimanded striker Rayan Cherki. “It’s ten from the fifth minute. We’ve been leading here for years and years and we’re just going backwards. All the time, again. The game is going on. We have 3,500 chances and yet we’re just going backwards.”
” Today, [les Marseillais] had nothing in their favour. They leave with three points, they look good. We leave with zero points.”he concluded.
