the Olympians still as comfortable away from the Vélodrome

What is a football match, the difference between one or three points and perhaps the fate of an entire season? Four minutes suspended in time, a foul on Bilal Nadir not reported by Éric Wattellier, a Lensois counterattack, an equalizer, Brice Samba running like a madman far from his line, a Bollaert stadium burning down, then the hesitation and, after a short check, a Lensois goal canceled followed by a very real goal from Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg from a direct free kick.

Four minutes, therefore, which, the magic of a referee who had lost his whistle, of VAR and its gray zones, transformed a 2-2 into 3-1, consolidated OM's place on the podium, and he made it possible to stave off a crisis which could have worsened one week before receiving Monaco. But Roberto De Zerbi's nights will probably not be peaceful either while waiting for the arrival of the second best team in Ligue 1, a status to which Olympique must also aspire.

Saturday, if the fate of the meeting was decided between the 85th and the 89th minute, it could however have tilted in favor of the Lensois throughout a first period where Leonardo Balerdi's teammates were on a tightrope, not truly in balance but without ever falling, sometimes saved from the precipice by an always impeccable Geronimo Rulli or by the clumsiness of their adversaries. “The reality of football is decided by goals“, aptly summed up a bitter Will Still about the effectiveness of his team and the refereeing.

Let's give it to the Belgian coach: his team dominated. 17 shots against 7, 1.93 expected goal against 1.19, which is enough chances, in theory, to win a match. But theory is of little importance in a surprising start to the season for De Zerbi's men. In the North, he first surprised with an organization most often in 5-3-2 (or 3-5-2). Luis Henrique was right piston, Mason Greenwood and Neal Maupay associated in attack, Adrien Rabiot close to them. It was a flop at first: “We suffered during the first 20 minutes, because, perhaps, we had kept the match against Auxerre within us“, underlined the former Brighton technician. His players in fact seemed to have remained at the Vélodrome but gradually took the measure of the intense pressing of the Lensois, thanks to a certain technical quality and courage in the restart, despite the scares caused by several ball losses.

After a face-to-face poorly negotiated by Maupay (40th) and a welcome break, we found a more classic OM on the outside, conquering, with fluid phases of possession (55%), who maximized their highlights after having resisted valiantly during its long -very- weak time. On two well-constructed actions by Greenwood and Maupay, Valentin Rongier (49) and Luis Henrique (57) deceived Samba and broke up the imposing Marseille screen, before the gap was reduced by Fulgini (80) and Hojbjerg's 3rd goal (89). A 6th victory in 7 away games which proves once again that OM are very comfortable when they have the opportunity to take advantage of spaces left by an enterprising opponent.

This could help against Monaco, in a week, an offensive team which will not close the game but which should not be as nice as Lens either.