It was a priority objective… which therefore ended prematurely on Tuesday evening, in an Orange Vélodrome chilled by the cold and literally blowing the final whistle. In search of a title in the Coupe de France since 1989, the Marseillais will therefore have to wait longer to hope to win the oldest French competition, after being eliminated on penalties (1-1, 3-4 tab) by Losc.
Played at a very pleasant pace in front of 61,954 people, the meeting was also marked by numerous incidents in the stands and at the edge of the pitch.
Violent scuffles on the south bend…
Marseillais and Lille compete at the start of the second act when the public's eyes turn towards the lower part of the south bend. On the left side of the imposing stand, the first blows rained down between faithful Olympians. Despite the intervention of the stewards and long minutes of hesitation, several general fights ensued.
According to several testimonies from people present on site, the altercation involves a few dozen core members of the two groups of the southern bend, the Ultras and the Winners, whose relations are currently fresh for various reasons. A tense situation for some time, made worse by the trip to Rennes (2-1) last Saturday.
For a good fifteen minutes, the situation is confused, insults and other blows are exchanged – sometimes with sticks -, almost making us forget the Lille opener (69th). Finally, the appearance of the CRS below the south bend completes the sad picture of the stand, which regains momentum after Luis Henrique's equalizer (90 + 6).
…and tensions on the edge of the field
On the pitch, the atmosphere is also heated. Trailing, OM tries to equalize. In a duel with defender Alexsandro, incoming Jonathan Rowe collapsed in the penalty area but Mr. Turpin did not whistle, provoking the ire of the bench as well as the Vélodrome.
A few moments later, the evening shifts into another dimension with Henrique's strike. On several videos broadcast on X (formerly Twitter), Lille president Olivier Létang then takes the fourth referee Jérémy Stinat by the arm. In the process, the football director Medhi Benatia – coming down from the Jean-Bouin stand – addresses the latter, as he explains to beIN Sports.
” This evening (read Tuesday), what I just experienced is serious. We score, I go to see the 4th referee so that he can tell the referee that there was a penalty (on Rowe's action). In passing, I remove my coach Roberto De Zerbi who was arguing with Olivier Létang. In the end, there were around fifteen people. Clément Turpin arrives from 50 meters, he comes there and 'bang' red! I come back to see the fourth referee who tells me that I threatened him with my finger. »
After the match, De Zerbi continued by deploring the behavior of the northern leader: “You will have to explain to me why the president of Lille comes to the side of the field, to speak with the fourth referee. This is the second time he has done it, it was already the case in the Championship. The President of the Republic could do it, but the president of a club? His place is in the stands and if no one says anything to him, I won't be shy about doing it (…) I never saw Pablo Longoria go down to the edge of the pitch to speak with the referee. »
Relaunched, he continues: “Many things are strange and I have difficulty understanding them. In thirty years of football, I had never seen a club president come down to speak with representatives of the refereeing body. (…) There was also the event of the canceled goal (that of Maupay in the 38th for a hand) which I didn't quite understand. If the referee awarded the goal and there is no VAR behind, how was the goal canceled behind? How were we able to see the images again? It's not very clear. »
In the meantime, OM failed to qualify for the 8th round of the Coupe de France despite a good overall performance, failing to achieve a successful finish. This Wednesday morning, the Marseillais now only have the Championship to play and a second place to secure. The return to current affairs in Ligue 1, from Sunday (8:45 p.m.) against Strasbourg, will be carefully scrutinized.
