2024-02-10 00:42:18
Incorrigible. Despairing. Frustrating! Don’t throw away the full cup. Qualifiers abound and collide to depict a worrying state of affairs. The Marseillais are, definitely, well and truly angry with victory, which continues to elude them in Ligue 1 in 2024. With 3 draws and a defeat in the elite since January, they are no longer moving forward.
According to Opta, this had only happened to them once in the last 45 years (in 2001 – 2 draws, 2 losses). This sad and eloquent statistic is symptomatic of the deep evil that is eating away at the club. To explain this sad state of affairs, we can point the finger at an inconsistent collective, a coach short of solutions, totally overwhelmed managers and a shareholder with absent subscribers. The crisis is here!
Welcomed at the Vélodrome by an icy atmosphere and deadly banners, the Marseillais missed, in passing, the opportunity to get back in the right direction after their defeat in Lyon, held to a draw at home by Messins 16th in the ranking, and who remained on 7 defeats in a row in the championship.
The game, which opened the 21st day of Ligue 1, quickly turned sour for Gennaro Gattuso’s men. The Phocéens, in fact, quickly found themselves at 10 against 11 after the exclusion of Samuel Gigot, at fault against Georges Mikautadze in a position of last defender (29th).
Many missed opportunities
Even outnumbered, the Marseillais had control of the match and attacked Oukidja’s cage. The Metz goalkeeper, in very good shape this Friday evening, was particularly decisive on a point-blank header from Azzedine Ounahi, stunned by the fact that the ball did not end up in the back of the net (42nd).
Insistent, almost behind without a very good Pau Lopez in front of Mikautadze (51st), the Marseillais ended up taking the advantage thanks to a goal 100% produced by its winter recruits: after a strike from Aubameyang, diverted, Quentin Merlin recovered the ball on the left side and crossed back for Faris Moumbagna, author of his first goal on the Canebière (56th).
“On the aggressiveness, on the desire, it’s not bad and we were keen to do that today,” the Marseille striker told Prime Video after the match. We pushed until the end, but unfortunately it wasn’t enough. We have everything, we have good players, very good qualities. We want to give even more and we must keep this desire in the next matches. »
That was all it took to wake up the Messins, who had been inert since the start of the match. Five minutes after opening the score, Grenats captain Mathieu Udol took a diving header from a cross perfectly addressed on the right side by Camara (61st). In Marseille, we don’t have enough time to savor.
“What we do with the ball is not enough,” regretted Messin Christophe Hérelle at the microphone of Prime. We were in numerical superiority, we were unable to make the difference. We must continue to work. Tactically, we are not ready, everyone saw that tonight. It’s in these moments that you have to know how to make the difference, but you have to gain maturity to grab points like that, otherwise it will be complicated. »
With this draw point, the Marseillais have 30 and temporarily climb to 7th place in Ligue 1. Not sure that this is enough to appease the supporters, who whistled copiously at the final whistle, nor to instill a positive dynamic in this team that needs it more than ever.
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