Dominant at home, Olympique de Marseille won a valuable success against Nice (2-1) on Sunday to settle in second place in Ligue 1 behind PSG and ahead of Rennes.
Olympique de Marseille clings to its place of runner-up. In the shock of the 29th day of Ligue 1, the atmosphere of which was announced to be very hot, the Phocaeans received Nice, level on points with them before the start of the match. Thanks to a penalty from Arkadiusz Milik, then a late-game goal from Cédric Bakambu, they got away with a deserved victory (2-1), not without some scares.
The start of the match had immediately established Marseille’s ambitions. In the first quarter of an hour, Jorge Sampaoli’s men confiscated the ball from their opponents, offering themselves several dangerous situations. But Nice responded by being dangerous on the counter, like the dangerous cross from Melvin Bard (24th) taken over by Calvin Stengs, who grazed the post. On the Marseille side, it was a free kick from Dimitri Payet, dropped on the head of William Saliba, which made the public at the Vélodrome stand up (27th) but the hand of Walter Benitez did not tremble.
Milik at the best time
After two missed games for muscle injury, Payet was involved in all the big Marseille shots of this first period, in particular a curled shot from 25 meters which caressed the skylight (40th). He was also present for the first turning point of the match, a one-two in the box with Cergiz Ünder, which led to a penalty. Despite protests from the Riviera, the offer was converted by Arkadiusz Milik (1-0, 45th + 4) and OM therefore logically joined the locker room in the lead.
This advantage was almost reduced to nothing as soon as the locker room returned, but the referee rightly refused a goal to Andy Delort (48th), for an offside position from Stengs at the start of the action. But the warning set the tone for a lively start to the second half, where the Niçois narrowly avoided the break goal, on a huge strike from Pape Gueye repelled by Benitez.
Lemina too late
More enterprising, the Aiglons then put Pau Lopez under pressure on several occasions, but the goalkeeper was impeccable on an attempt by Delort (71st). And it was OM, after having harvested a lot, who finally knew how to take shelter, thanks to a counter effort carried out and concluded victoriously by Bakambu (2-0, 89th). Throwing all their strength at the end of the match, the Niçois reduced the gap thanks to Mario Lemina after a free kick (2-1, 90th + 2), but too late to hope to win.
In the standings, the Marseillais (2nd, 53 points) are doing a good job by distancing their evening opponents (4th, 50 points), even if they remain 12 points behind the leader, Paris Saint-Germain. Their victory also benefits Rennes, winner of Metz (6-1) earlier in the day and now installed on the podium (3rd, 52 points).