At the Vélodrome stadium,
Nobody thought they would see Olympique de Marseille snatch victory against OGC Nice (2-2) on Wednesday evening. Until the 90th + 3 and this incredible ride from the magician Aubameyang, told to you by his teammate, Ulisses Garcia, from his left side: “Pope [Gueye] puts a long ball, I don’t really know where. Auba turns around, manages to get past the first defender, then the second. He really does a feat, and then it’s really bad luck: We hit the slat. It’s a shame, because I think that would have been the winning goal. »
A “feat” worthy of the talent of OM number 10, who with a few touches of the ball offered intense hope to the more than 55,000 spectators at the Vélodrome stadium. So quickly fell, when his magnificent lob hit the bar of a Marcin Bulka almost paralyzed in the face of the genius of the attacker. “It’s disgusting, because we had the last opportunity with Auba. Sometimes you need luck, but we didn’t get it in this situation. I thought the ball was going to go in quietly,” Leo Balerdi could only curse.
OM, first in the ranking of the unlucky
Like this last action which risks haunting quite a few Marseillais, his teammates still went through all the emotions in this late match of the 29th day. Quickly trailing (13th), they equalized thanks to a superb half-volley from the returning Jonathan Clauss (31st). The severe expulsion, at least the second yellow, of Faris Moumbagna then forced Jean-Louis Gasset to “spend the half-time reorganizing, always to win”. And the generous penalty offered to the Marseillais by Jérémie Pignard, and transformed by Aubameyang (55th), brought them a little closer to this objective.
But the step was ultimately too high for the Marseillais, full of desire, but too tired. And it was Melvin Bard (72nd) who logically reminded us how difficult it was for the Gasset gang to achieve a result this season, especially in Ligue 1.
Before this fateful “latte” from Aubameyang, a summary of the Marseillais season in this area. Failing to climb the rankings, the Marseillais sit in first place among the unlucky with no less than 17 amounts touched during the season! Enough to make them the 2nd best scorers in Ligue 1, tied with Jonathan David, behind the untouchable Mbappé (26 goals).
“We’re not going to give up”
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang had already hit the post in the first leg against Nice, in a similar action. His little dive died on Bulka’s post, and the Marseillais lost the match with a goal from Guessand. If the ball had entered just in the home and away matches against Nice, Gasset’s men would only be a small point behind the Aiglons, in 6th qualifying place for Europe.
But not much is smiling on the Marseillais, at least in the championship, where they remain stuck in 8th place. “I see that Lens is on five points and that we receive them [dimanche, 20h45]. We will fight until the end. I don’t know where we will end up, but we are not going to give up,” promised Jean-Louis Gasset. But with six games without a win in Ligue 1 and so little success, more and more supporters would like to see the staff give up on the championship in favor of the double confrontation against Atalanta Bergamo, in the Europa League, next Thursday.