Jean-Louis Gasset succeeded in his first and Marseille will be present at the meeting of the round of 16 of the Europa League. Yet quickly trailing after Georgiy Sudakov’s goal (0-1, 12th), OM were able to reverse the trend little by little to equalize first thanks to Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (1-1, 23rd). Then Ismaïla Sarr (2-1, 74th) and Geoffrey Kondogbia (3-1, 81st) offered victory to the Phocéens. A success and a qualification which will do good in the current context.
Fourth coach of OM since the start of the season after the visits of Marcelino, Jacques Abardonado and Gennaro Gattuso, Jean-Louis Gasset knew he was expected for his baptism of fire at the Vélodrome. And the least we can say is that his players did not make his task easy. From the first minute, Eguinaldo accelerated down the left lane before seeing his right shot blocked by Gigot. The tone was set.
Shy in the pressing, the Marseillais let their opponents take control of the match. And after a new strike from Danylo Sikan repelled by Pau Lopez (8th), Jonathan Clauss conceded an avoidable penalty for a foul on Eguinaldo. And Georgiy Sudakov was quick to catch the Spanish goalkeeper on the wrong foot with a shot from the right (0-1, 12th). Temporarily eliminated at this moment of the meeting, Samuel Gigot and his partners had to react.
Aubameyang launches Marseille revolt
It took finally effective pressing for Amine Harit to recover the ball in the opposing camp and immediately launch Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang whose curled strike full of composure left no chance for Dmytro Riznyk (1-1, 23rd). The Vélodrome could then start singing again and the Olympians took an irremediable lead. Their pressing pushed the Ukrainian defense to make numerous errors on the restart and helped to install them in the opposing half.
Geoffrey Kondogbia (27th, 41st), Chancel Mbemba (34th), Amine Harit (45th+4), Jonathan Clauss (53rd) or even Faris Moumbagna (54th) could not give an advantage that would have been deserved for the Marseillais. Meanwhile, Shakhtar were dangerous through Eguinaldo (45th+2), who gave Clauss a hard time throughout the match, or Yukhim Konoplya (51st) without disrupting the Olympian rhythm. And it was finally Ismaïla Sarr, who entered the game ten minutes earlier, who delivered an entire stadium with a powerful strike from the right under Riznyk’s crossbar after a long opening from Jordan Veretout deflected by Aubameyang (2-1, 74th) .
Never again worried until the end of the match, OM completed their success with a third goal from Kondogbia, on the lookout for a misunderstanding between Taras Stepanenko and Riznyk on a free kick from Clauss (3-1, 81st ). The only French club present in the round of 16 of the Europa League, and before facing Montpellier on Sunday, Marseille will know this Friday who their next European opponent will be. West Ham, Brighton, Glasgow Rangers, Atalanta Bergamo, Liverpool, Villarreal, Slavia Prague and Bayer Leverkusen could stand in his way.