OL overthrow OM and get closer to Europe
Two months after the bottle throw on Dimitri Payet and the cacophony that followed, OL and OM met again this Tuesday evening in the sad atmosphere of an empty Groupama Stadium. And if we could have seen a symbol in the opening of the Marseille score on a corner at the very place of the incident, the latter will remain only an anecdote.
In control and in little danger, the Marseillais lost the thread after the break and cracked against a diminished but never resigned OL (2-1). Les Gones have a third success in a row in Ligue 1 and come back to one point from fourth place and six from the podium. Jorge Sampaoli’s men miss the opportunity to regain second place.
Forced to field an unprecedented eleven with Emerson in an attacking role and Rayan Cherki at the forefront, the Lyonnais were challenged from the start by Marseilles sure of their strength. More just in the use of the ball, OM took their first opportunity. Dropped by Léo Dubois, Mattéo Guendouzi adjusted Anthony Lopes with a helmet shot at the near post on the corner of Payet (10th). Harmless apart from a few flashes from Malo Gusto in the first half, OL seemed without solutions but were able to count on an opponent who gradually relaxed their grip.
Reorganized to four behind after the break and in control of the ball, Peter Bosz’s players were able to put OM to sleep and make them lose track. Too little sharp, the Marseillais also missed their best opportunities to break. First with this three against two wasted by Pol Lirola (32nd), then on this shot off target from Cengiz Ünder (68th). Quite the opposite of Lyonnais who stormed the cages of Pau Lopez after the entry of Moussa Dembélé. The Spanish goalkeeper postponed the deadline (71st) but gave in on a header from Xherdan Shaqiri (76th) then on a marvelous sequence from Dembélé (90 + 1).
13
With this new defeat, OM have a 13th unsuccessful match against Lyon in Ligue 1. We have to go back to November 2007 to find the trace of a victory in Lyon.
The player: Moussa Dembélé, unexpected savior
He was supposed to miss this meeting because of the Covid-19. But Moussa Dembélé was able to appear on the bench at kick-off thanks to a negative test at the end of the afternoon on Tuesday. Launched by Bosz on the hour mark, the striker who has lacked confidence for 18 months has revived OL. He never hesitated to try his luck even in complicated positions like on this acrobatic return (86th). His sequence of control directed in front of William Saliba and the ball stung against Lopez offered a deserved victory to the Lyonnais.
