The draw of Lens, 2nd in Ligue 1, recorded this Saturday afternoon, OM, which has just reached an agreement with Angers for the arrival of Ounahi, had the opportunity to kill two birds with one stone. strokes. If successful, on the one hand the Marseillais would have put the Monegasques, evening opponents, at 8 points, on the other, they would have passed the Lensois on goal difference. Unfortunately for the Phocaeans, they fell against a very advantageous Monaco in the first period, before suffering in the second. Finally, OM remain 3rd in the championship, two points behind Lens and 5 points ahead of ASM.
What you must remember
From the first minutes, this match started at 100 per hour. In a pattern where we found the Marseillais very high, the Monegasques took advantage of the flaws to offer themselves an incalculable number of counterattacks. But each time, the last bastion, Ruben Blanco, stood in front of them, when Wissam Ben Yedder did not harvest a few goal balls (15th, 29th). It was not until a free kick in the left lane that the score was no longer blank.
On a set piece from Aleksandr Golovin, Jordan Veretout came to deflect this cross in the area before deceiving his own goalkeeper with a header (17th). An unfortunate csc but which proved the domination of the Principality’s players right. Because apart from possession, in favor of Marseille, Monaco was much more enterprising.
On the other hand, the break in the locker room reshuffled the cards. OM returned to the field with a completely different face and quickly equalized through Alexis Sanchez (47th), author of his 7th goal this season. Taking advantage of a handball from Alexander Nübel, the Monegasque goalkeeper, the Chilean striker turned into a surface fox to allow his people to pick up. Despite a glaring domination in the second half, and a crossbar from Leonardo Balerdi (73rd), the Marseillais could not find the net a second time and had to be satisfied with the point of a draw.
Player: Ruben Blanco
Arrived last summer from Celta Vigo on loan, the Marseille goalkeeper played his 4th Ligue 1 match this Saturday evening. Deprived of Pau Lopez due to a physical glitch, OM therefore entrusted his cage to Ruben Blanco, 27 years old. Well he did. Because the Spanish goalkeeper released a very good performance. If his cage did not remain clean, it was only because of an own goal from Jordan Veretout on which Ruben Blanco could do absolutely nothing.
Otherwise, all his decisions were the right ones. And without him, Mrseille would certainly have been one to two more goals down at halftime. Blanco indeed won ahead of Ben Seghir (4th), then Ben Yedder (29th) on a huge two-time goal opportunity. In short, a boss job.
The number: 16
By scoring from a free kick, the Monegasques scored their 16th goal from a set piece of the season in 20 league games. Proof that this gaming sector is a big hit with players from the Principality.
The declaration: Youssouf Fofana
“We had 2 or 3 chances in the first half. If we put them on, we kill envy, we kill hope. The first half was exceptional in the discipline, we deserve better tonight but we will have to look at the 18 days that remain. »
