The fittest club in Ligue 1 before this weekend (four wins in a row), OL saw their series stopped by Lens (0-3) this Sunday. If the result seems logical in view of the numerous saves made by Anthony Lopes, notably two spectacular ones in front of Elye Wahi (37th) and Ruben Aguilar (66th), the outcome could have been different if Orel Mangala’s strike had not been repelled by the post (14th) or if Ernest Nuamah had not collided with Brice Samba (24th) in the first period.
Once the storm passed at the start of the match, the Sang et Or took the upper hand in the game as well as on the scoreboard. Well placed within 6 meters, Florian Sotoca made this domination a reality before half-time with a header (43rd). Wahi then took it upon himself to improve his personal statistics against OL (53rd, sp, see below), who finished the match with ten men after the expulsion of Ainsley Maitland-Niles (84th) and conceded a new goal by Kevin Danso from a corner (87th).
Falling on a great Samba, again decisive twice in front of Malick Fofana and Jake O’Brien (79th), Pierre Sage’s players had not lost in the Championship since January 26 (2-3 against Rennes). Overtaken by Toulouse, they slip to eleventh place in a ranking in which Racing is back, three points behind Monaco and the podium, two behind Lille and the Champions League.
The player: Cackling unhappy captain
In the absence of Alexandre Lacazette, Maxence Caqueret wore the OL captain’s armband for the first time at the kick-off of an official match. A promotion which did not bring him luck since he was involved in two of the three goals conceded by his team. First easily eliminated by David Pereira da Costa on Sotoca’s opener (43rd), he then cost a penalty – converted by Wahi (51st) – by blocking a shot from Nampalys Mendy with his hand. His performance was enhanced by a lot of activity in the midfield (8 balls recovered).
8
Only Kylian Mbappé (10) and Wissam Ben Yedder (9) have scored more goals than Elye Wahi (8 in 6 matches) against OL in Ligue 1 in the 21st century.