OM is slowing down: already beaten on Sunday in Strasbourg, the Marseillais were held in check on Friday at home by Angers (1-1), bottom of the championship, and are going through their first slack period since the arrival of Roberto De Zerbi .
We had to bounce back and show that the defeat in Alsace was just a “incident along the way”as requested by the Italian OM coach on Thursday. We also had to catch up with Paris and Monaco, which are ahead.
It was a failure, a failure like the match played by his men on Friday, the poorest of the season, undoubtedly even poorer than that of Strasbourg.
Faced with Angers, which has not won a match this season, and despite the gloomy atmosphere at the Vélodrome, with two sectors closed by the LFP disciplinary committee, Marseille nevertheless started as clear favorites.
OM’s Argentinian midfielder Valentin Carboni (d) gets ahead of Angers’ Algerian striker Farid El Melali (g), October 4, 2024 at the Stade Vélodrome / MIGUEL MEDINA / AFP
De Zerbi had injected a little novelty with the starts of Neal Maupay, Valentin Carboni and Ulisses Garcia, but in fact not much happened, or almost nothing, until the 26th minute and the logical expulsion of Lilian Raolisoa for a big foul on Garcia.
In numerical superiority, OM then thought they would find the spaces they were missing, but things did not go as planned because Maupay was in turn excluded for two yellow cards collected in three minutes and which we will simply describe as ‘avoidable.
Disappointing Greenwood
Michel Platini recently proposed playing matches 10 against 10 to make football more attractive and Friday’s meeting suddenly became an opportunity to test the proposal of the former No.10 of the Blues.
OM English midfielder Mason Greenwood (l) in front of Angers defender Florent Hanin, October 4, 2024 at the Stade Vélodrome / MIGUEL MEDINA / AFP
But the experience was not very conclusive. Until the break, OM had the ball three-quarters of the time and increased their shots, but without ever really creating any danger.
Opposite, Angers very quickly started trying to gain time, already, and it all ended at the break under a big bronca which was probably aimed at everyone, the Angevins, the referee and probably also OM, really very average since his exploit in Lyon.
Marseille, however, opened the scoring, thanks to the Englishman Jonathan Rowe, the hero of the Lyon match, who scored at a time when Angers was constantly falling back under pressure (1-0, 51st).
But Marseille was unable to hold its advantage and Angers came back thanks to a beautiful free kick from Farid El Melali (1-1 54th) after a mistake from Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, less sovereign for two matches.
This is also the case for Mason Greenwood, the trigger for Marseille’s good start to the season and author of a terrible match on Friday, with an avalanche of bad choices.
OM midfielder Adrien Rabiot entered during the match against Angers, October 4, 2024 at the Stade Vélodrome / MIGUEL MEDINA / AFP
until the end, Marseille still pushed, of course, notably with the debut at the Vélodrome in the OM jersey of Adrien Rabiot. Amir Murillo even thought he scored, but the VAR showed that he had touched the ball with his hand (68th).
In the end, OM let points slip away and the euphoria which had won over Marseille after the improbable success brought back from Lyon has clearly subsided. After the truce, the Marseillais will go to Montpellier to get back on track. It is necessary, because then it is Paris SG who will come to the Vélodrome.
