OM wins in Lens after a crazy match

This Saturday was a shock day in Ligue 1 between two emblematic teams of our championship. In a white-hot Bollaert-Delelis stadium, RC Lens hosted Olympique de Marseille for a meeting between two teams who absolutely needed a victory in the race for Europe. After an eventful pre-break on the Canebière, the Phocaeans had to find a smile again, even though they are quite good away from their bases. For its part, the Lensois club remained on a good victory against Nantes (3-2) but had to confirm its status as a contender for Europe. From the outset, the latter set their pace. Very incisive, Will Still's men obtained the first opportunities like the lack of courage of Deiver Machado who could have scored with a header without his fear of Géronimo Rulli's right post (4th).

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The Argentine goalkeeper then relaxed twice in the face of artesian attempts (8th). Marseille only knew how to exist offensively by taking advantage of an error from Malang Sarr (9th). While Lens blithely dominated the game, the debates became balanced as half-time approached and Marseille could even have opened the scoring without an incredible miss from Neal Maupay, facing the goal (41st). At the end of the first act, Lens also had new opportunities but the Lensois once again came up against a glaring lack of realism and a brilliant Rulli (42nd, 44th). Upon returning from the locker room, the meeting got off to a new start. More inspired, the visitors even quickly found the flaw. After another reassuring save from Rulli (48th), OM found the fault after a well-executed action.

While Greenwood found Maupay on a superb opening, the former Brighton player controlled before serving Valentin Rongier behind. In the closet at the start of the season, the former captain of FC Nantes was quick to deceive Brice Samba and give OM the advantage against the run of play (0-1, 49th). Stunned, the Lensois began to stammer their football, which allowed OM to push and gain confidence minute after minute. A welcome burst of pride for Marseillais who even managed to double the lead at the end of a superb counter-attack. After an impressive ride from Greenwood, Maupay found Luis Henrique deep. Calmly, the Brazilian crossed his shot perfectly to score his fifth league goal of the season and put OM away. However, Lens did not give up and continued to believe in it.

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A resilience which allowed Lens to believe in it and continue to attack. A furtive hope which became a real leitmotif with Angelo Fulgini's reduction of the gap in the 80th minute after a confused action (2-1, 80th). In the process, Lens even managed to equalize thanks to a welcome achievement from Rémy Labeau-Lascary (2-2, 85th). But while Bollaert was exultant and believed in a crazy scenario for victory, the VAR came to report a foul at the start of the action on Bilal Nadir. After viewing, Eric Wattelier refused Lensois' goal and logically awarded Marseille a free kick. A godsend for Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg who deceived Brice Samba with an incredible look on the open side (1-3, 89th). With this great success in a particularly hostile environment, OM remains third and is getting closer to Monaco. For its part, Lens made the wrong move and found itself relegated to six points behind its evening opponent.