Marseille and Lille back to back before Christmas

Long in the lead, Marseille was joined at the end of the match by Lille (1-1) on Saturday during a high-level clash, concluded in confusion and which both teams could have won.

Marseille were aiming for a fourth consecutive victory in L1 as the Mastiffs looked to further extend their unbeaten run, which stood at 15 games in all competitions before the match. In the end, it was Lille who won their case, but it was a close call.

The equalizer for Bruno Genesio’s team came in the 87th minute, when Bafodé Diakité headed a free kick well struck by Rémy Cabella and stupidly conceded by Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg.

At the end of a confusing end to the match, during which Marseillais Pol Lirola was sent off and which saw the referee leave under a deluge of whistles, it seems that the draw was fairly fair, between two teams who showed that they had the Champions League level, their ambition.

Under the eyes of Dimitri Payet and his traditional Christmas hat, OM failed to confirm their great success against Monaco, who seemed to have unlocked something at home. But before playing their last match of the year 2024 in the Cup on Sunday December 22, in Saint-Étienne, the Marseillais (2nd) know that they will start 2025 on the podium.

They owe it in part to their goalkeeper Geronimo Rulli. Formidable since the start of the season, the Argentine once again saved OM at the start of the match, when Lille seemed to have taken control of operations, first with a deflected shot from Matias Fernandez-Pardo (8th) then with an exceptional outing ahead of Jonathan David (11th).

Maupay on the post

Marseille could breathe and the rest of the first period was superb, with two teams still on a tightrope, OM with their repeated passes which require great technical certainty and Losc with their high block and the spaces that go with it.

It is also by punishing this ambitious positioning that OM took the advantage, after an impeccable collective action, launched by Amir Murillo, developed by Neal Maupay, Luis Henrique and Adrien Rabiot and concluded with a lot of composure by Quentin Merlin (1-0, 17th).

Marseille still had two huge chances, via Mason Greenwood and Maupay, and, in sequence, we saw a team with clear ideas and which really knows what it wants to do.

But Lille also remained dangerous, with Edon Zhegrova and David, always, and the duel remained open throughout a tense and uncertain second period.

Rulli continued to attract the balls, even in front of his captain Leonardo Balerdi, almost scoring against his side (78th), but opposite, Lucas Chevalier came to remind us that this match was also that of two great goalkeepers, with several important saves, in front of Rabiot in particular (77th).

Until Diakité’s equalizing goal, the best opportunity had still been for OM, with a shot from Maupay on the post (55th) following a mistake by the Lille defense.

But while Lille could fear fatigue after its Champions League match on Wednesday against Sturm Graz (3-2), the northern team finished rather better than OM, less lucid, and Genesio’s changes brought more than those of Roberto De Zerbi.