Strasbourg 1-0 OM: first deserved defeat

D.Moreira 40e

I.Doukouré 56th, G.Doué 68th

Rabiot 75e

As expected, Højbjerg plays in defense to face Strasbourg. Brassier is on the left side, Murillo on the right, Kondogbia goes up in the middle to position himself alongside Harit in the pressing, leaving Ismaël Koné as a launching pad in front of the defense. Opposite, the Alsatians had warned: as soon as the opportunity presented itself, they launched their Bakwa, Nanasi and Emegha arrows. This is perhaps why OM agrees to let the locals attack. But it is not without risk. On an incursion into the area, Cornelius fouls Andrey Santos, but the referee does not whistle. Emegha then finds himself in a duel, and Rulli puts out a big save. OM reacted with a great offensive in the 40th minute: Harit carried the ball, and several players went up with him. But the leader stupidly impales himself on the defender in front of him at the entrance to the area. It wasn’t necessary. Strasbourg was just waiting for that to go on the counter. Nanasi perfectly shifts his side at the last moment, who hits hard and opens the score.

Everyone expects Harit to come out at halftime, but De Zerbi changes the animation, not the men. Harit tries to redeem himself by breaking through on the left before putting the ball back into Greenwood’s race. But Petrovic makes a high-level save. The goalkeeper, on loan from Chelsea, shines again on the first ball from Maupay, who delays to feint the entire defense before hitting, but the goalkeeper had understood. The attacker had been well launched by Rabiot, who replaced Ismaël Koné, visibly injured muscularly and in tears. The Duke also served Greenwood well on the right, but the Englishman’s curling shot narrowly missed. Strasbourg will manage the rest of the match well, and OM will not pull away that much, thus ending with a first deserved defeat.

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