As the last quarter of an hour of regulation time approached, Auxerre held on to their miracle and were on the verge of performing a superb operation in the maintenance race. AJA then led 1-0, and this advantage seemed to fall from the sky, well rather from the right foot of Birama Touré. After having weathered the storm during the first twenty minutes (11 shots to 0 for OM), the Burgundy team had taken the advantage on a marvel from their Malian captain, a volley of 20 meters from under the bar of Pau Lopez (1-0, 33rd). But everything changed in the space of two minutes (75th, 77th), and the Ajaist formation left with empty bags and with regrets from the Velodrome.
“Of course I feel disappointed, because there is never an encouraging defeat, but also pride in what the boys have done, said Christophe Pelissier, the coach. We prepared for the match in difficult conditions with a lot of injuries. That they are not rewarded in accounting terms, it is hard for them. » For this meeting, the technician had to deal with the packages, and Théo Pellenard, barely back after his serious injury (a rupture of the cruciate ligaments) and long heroic for his first tenure since May 29, was pushed at fault by Ünder on the equalizer. But it was already a miracle to have seen Auxerre hold out so far.
“It would not have been undeserved for us to take points”
“Yes, the result is logical, confirmed Pelissier. There is a domination of Marseille, but we expected it. Afterwards, it’s not Marseille’s two goals that make me moan, it’s us, because we miss the 2-0. We have two situations, there maybe the match is different. Let it be said that Marseille’s victory is deserved, yes, after that it would not have been undeserved for us to take points. »
Especially since the technician railed on the realization of Alexis Sanchez: “I would say that they are miraculous on the second goal. I have seen images where there is offside, here it is. Afterwards, we interpret it as we want, we know how the VAR interprets things too. » One thing is certain: despite its defeat, Auxerre remains 14th and out of the red zone and still keeps its destiny in hand to keep its place in the elite.