Despite being reduced to ten men in the 5th minute, Marseille won (3-2) a crazy “Olympico” on Sunday evening on the pitch of Lyon in Ligue 1. Geneva’s Ulisses Garcia particularly distinguished himself by scoring a goal.
Pure madness. Olympique de Marseille, reduced to ten men following the expulsion of their defender Leonardo Balerdi in the 5th minute, snatched victory (3-2) against Olympique Lyonnais on Sunday in the shock of the 5th day of Ligue 1.
It was Jonathan Rowe who emerged in the 95th minute to give the Marseille club all three points. Rayan Cherki had allowed OL to equalize… two minutes earlier! Before this incredible outcome, the locals had opened the scoring thanks to Duje Ćaleta-Car (53rd), before Marseille’s Pol Lirola (69th) brought the two teams back to level.
Ulisses Garcia emerges in the 81st minute
In the 81st minute, OM took the lead for the first time on a lightning counter-attack, finished by Ulisses Garcia. Coming into play in the 67th minute, the Geneva full-back was the author of a nice lobbed volley. This is his first success with Marseille and in the French championship.
“A professional error”
This scenario logically had the gift of frustrating the Gones. “It’s unbelievable, it’s cruel,” admitted Lyon coach Pierre Sage to the press at the end of this crazy game. “We left our opponent alive and they kept hope. They seized all the opportunities and the little things we left them. (…) It’s a big blow to morale. We don’t capitalize, we give three points back to the opponent. The scenario is crazy.”
The same goes for his player Jordan Veretout. “When you play eleven against ten and you’re leading, you have to know how to kill the game, take security. It’s hard, because in the second half, they came into our camp three times to score three goals. It’s a defeat that hurts. We don’t have the right, it’s a professional error tonight,” said the OL midfielder who still wore the Marseille colours last season.
