Two weeks after an unworthy defeat at the Vélodrome stadium against Auxerre (1-3), Marseille bounced back at the expense of Lens (1-3) on Saturday, as part of the 12th day of Ligue 1. This victory at Bollaert-Delelis allows for OM to consolidate their place on the podium (3rd, 23 points), now unattainable by Lille (4th, 19 pts) at the end of this championship weekend, and to follow the pace of Paris (1st, 32) and Monaco (2nd, 26).
Messy and often dominated in the first period, the Olympians built their success by showing opportunism after returning from the locker room, to respond to the anger of their coach Roberto De Zerbi. Furious to see his players sink at home against AJA before the international break in November, the Italian declared himself “ready to go” if he was ” the problem “before ensuring that he did not intend to resign.
But during the first forty-five minutes, these words did not provoke a strong reaction from the Provençaux, positioned with three or five defenders depending on the phases of play, with Luis Henrique on the right piston, and Adrien Rabiot alongside Mason Greenwood for support Neal Maupay, alone at the forefront. They were surpassed in intentions and speed of play by the Artesians.
The latter won the clumsiness competition. They have been plagued by the same problem since the start of the exercise: offensive ineffectiveness (sixteen shots, seven on target).
From 2-2 to 1-3
The Marseillais first struck through Valentin Rongier, at the end of their first good attack, with Maupay and Greenwood as passers (49th). They then scored at the end of a counter again smoothly led by Greenwood and Maupay, this time with Luis Henrique at the conclusion (57th).
The Lensois reduced the gap through Angelo Fulgini (80th). And Rémy Labeau-Lascary thought he would equalize, a goal ultimately refused for a foul committed at the start of the action in front of the Sang et Or area (86th). Instead, Pierre-Émile Højbjerg scored from a free kick (89th).
“We managed to put this setback against Auxerre which really made us suffer out of our minds. This success constitutes an important response in terms of character”said De Zerbi, adding: “Time shows us that this team needs someone who brings order to the field. Rongier has these characteristics, he had a big match. »
Pour son homologue, Will Still, “We need to be more demanding of ourselves. It's Nice to say that we had a good first half, that we created chances, that we played well. But, after a while, if you're not leading 3-0 at half-time, you're going to regret it. This is what happened.” And the Anglo-Belgian coach asked “a collective and individual awareness”.
A small goal which brings happiness to the Stéphanois and the misfortune to the Montpellier residents, whose fans were turned away
Reims (6th, 18 pts) and Lyon (5th, 19) did not manage to decide between themselves (1-1) at Auguste-Delaune, where Oumar Diakité (55th) responded to Rayan Cherki (38th), the man in form of the moment. At the end of the game, Brazilian defensive midfielder Gabriel Moscardo, on loan from Paris SG, played his first minutes with the Stade this season.
At Geoffroy-Guichard, a goal from Benjamin Bouchouari (47th) allowed Saint-Étienne (13th, 13th) to win (1-0) ahead of Montpellier (18th, 7th) at the end of an already important match in the fight for maintenance led by ASSE and the MHSC. By order of the prefect of the Loire, the approximately 300 visiting supporters were sent back to Hérault before the match due to a fight that left around fifteen people lightly injured.
Festive day in Lille
Lille celebrates its 80th anniversary this Sunday with the reception of Rennes (3 p.m.) at the Pierre-Mauroy stadium, after a welcome break in its frantic pace. Losc will take advantage of the arrival of the SRFC of Jorge Sampaoli, Argentinian coach recently hired in place of Julien Stéphan, to blow out its candles and celebrate several glories of the club four times champion of France, including twice in the last fifteen years (2011, 2021 ). However, there is no question of losing sight of the objective of victory, warns coach Bruno Genesio: “Let us not disperse before the match. This is the first of a final cycle before the winter break. »
The Northerners are on the verge of the podium (4th, 19 points), thanks to an almost divine month of October, before facing the Bretons in full doubt (13th, 11 pts). They are still riding a positive dynamic, both in the Champions League, where they are very well on their way to reaching the play-offs for the round of 16 (14th out of 36, 7 pts), and in the championship, even if they have lost speed just before the international break in November: draws against Lyon (1-1) in Villeneuve-d'Ascq then in Nice (2-2).
But the two weeks without an L1 match allowed several Lille residents to take a breather, others to come back. Icelandic midfielder Hakon Haraldsson, very good before getting injured, is applying again for a place in the group, as are Belgian right-back Thomas Meunier, defender Ousmane Touré and Guinean striker Mohamed Bayo.
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