Ligue 1 – 20th day – The tops and flops of OL-OM (1-0): The class of Matic, the treatment of Clauss

• Lacazette’s self-sacrifice

If there is one thing that we can never blame Alexandre Lacazette, it is his expenditure of energy in a difficult season. This Sunday, he was rewarded for his activity with and without the ball with a goal which will not appear in his personal pantheon for its beauty. After a cross from Ernest Nuamah, the Lyonnais first threw himself in vain at the far post before managing to push the ball to the bottom by being the quickest on his recovery (37th). He even almost scored the double in an almost identical action just before half-time. Proof that self-sacrifice is a virtue sometimes underestimated in him.

• Matic, class is eternal

His transfer caused a lot of ink to flow and, in the process, his image was undoubtedly damaged somewhat. The fact remains that Nemanja Matic is a hell of a football player and his hour spent controlling the tempo of the match proved it once again. Starting in midfield with OL for his first match, the Serb wandered around at his own pace, tormenting the opposing trio with his directions and his management of space. Although he ended up burned out physically, he proved that class was eternal and that, even in transitional football, you can shine playing almost in slippers.

• Maintland-Niles, the lucky rescue

He’s not the most striking recruit of Lyon’s new era but, this Sunday, Ainsley Maitland-Niles may have made a save which will weigh heavily in Lyon’s balance at the end of the season. After a dive ball from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang which had deceived Anthony Lopes, the Englishman cleared as best he could from his goal line and his ball hit its own crossbar before moving away from the Lyon goal (79th). A sign of destiny? Maybe. They were so rare in Lyon this season that they are really precious for Les Gones.

• Gift Orban, raw but almost a little too much

We feel that Gift Orban is a force of nature, an unstoppable buffalo when he is in a duel with opposing defenders. This Sunday, for his first start since his arrival at OL, the Nigerian was sometimes interesting but also clearly confusing when using the ball. His movement technique does not match his power and his technical finesse does not seem to be his primary quality. As it stands, Orban is a rough player.

• The treatment of Jonathan Clauss

Jonathan Clauss understood this week that he was no longer in the odor of sanctity at OM. But can Marseille, who tried to get rid of him at the end of the transfer window, even afford to mistreat their right side? The match in Lyon was a reminder of how important, if not capital, Clauss was. Before he came into play, the Phocaeans offered absolutely nothing. And if his entry into play did not change the match, it at least helped to wake up a collective in great pain. He seems to be the only one who can give a few good rounds to abandoned attackers. So yes, he only has a year and a half left on his contract. Is this a good reason to push it?

It’s as if Marseille had given everything in the first 4 seconds and this hit on the bar from the kick-off from Amine Harit. It was the only surge of fever from a team completely out of sync. The observation: a shot on target in 90 minutes against the 16th in Ligue 1 at kick-off and a team which had conceded 33 goals in 19 matches. What do OM hope for at the end of the season? Yes, the list of absentees gives hope for better days. But the lack of desire, the technical limits and the inability to create danger seem to be prohibitive obstacles to the objective at the start of the season: the podium. And as Gennaro Gattuso struggles to ignite the spark, this OM seems to be fading little by little.