Plunged into a sporting crisis – with only one victory in 2024 against Thionville in the Coupe de France – and extra-sporting with the resignation of his coach Gennaro Gattuso, the arrival of Jean-Louis Gasset and the lunar exit of Benatia over Jonathan Clauss , Olympique de Marseille had the opportunity to redeem themselves. And undoubtedly to save his season. Mission accomplished.
The Marseillais won this Thursday evening in the Europa League play-off against Shakhtar Donetsk (3-1) after scoring a draw in the first leg (2-2). While Rennes, Toulouse and Lens had all been eliminated at the start of the evening, the Marseille team avoided a pitiful zero out of four for Ligue 1 in the play-offs of the old C3.
However, the lack of confidence was immediately felt. From the first minutes, OM played with fire, suffering from the flashes of Eguinaldo, Zubkov and Sudakov. The latter was the first to shine from the penalty spot (12th), after a foul by Jonathan Clauss on the spinning Eguinaldo. At that point in the match, Gasset’s men were not there. So to set the record straight, Marseille will rely on its scorer, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
Following good pressing from Moumbagna, Harit recovered the ball to serve the Gabonese who just had to adjust the Ukrainian goalkeeper (23rd). Beyond the equalizer, this goal will liberate the Marseillais. Thanks to a solid Kondogbia in the midfield, OM confiscated the ball from their opponent, creating a new opportunity by Kondogbia, again, with a heavy strike pushed back in the axis (26th). At the end of the first period, Harit saw his shot pass just above the Chakhtar cage while Moumbagna seemed to have been pushed by Rakytskiy…
In the second half, both teams seemed in physical difficulty. The Marseillais, more dangerous from a corner, had a first opportunity through Moumbagna (53rd). On both sides, the crosses never found takers, the strikes lacked precision and power and the incoming players contributed nothing… or almost.
On a long opening from Veretout, Aubameyang let it slip for Sarr, who had just come into play in place of Moumbagna. The restless Sarr, who has not scored in Ligue 1 since the 8th day, deceived Riznyk and gave his team the advantage (74th). Seven minutes later, OM sealed the fate of the match thanks to Kondogbia, on the lookout for a poorly saved free kick. Marseille breathes and will continue its European adventure in the round of 16.