While their rivals Rennes and Nice were losing their feathers, Olympique de Marseille dominated FC Nantes on Wednesday evening (3-2). Encouraged by the 55,000 supporters of the Vélodrome, Dimitri Payet and company came back twice before winning. An evening that bodes well for a very good end to the season, OM now having a cushion of six points over their competitors for second place.
Pull the chestnuts from the fire. Definition: to take advantage of a given situation. Example: Olympique de Marseille on Wednesday evening. The dolphin of Paris Saint-Germain had a golden opportunity to take a step closer to the Champions League against Nantes since at the same time, his four pursuers crossed swords. And the planets aligned: AS Monaco beat OGC Nice (1-0), Strasbourg defeated Stade Rennes (2-1), and the Marseillais ended up putting the Canaries in a cage (3-2 ). With character and rage, expressed in his own way by Pol Lirola.
This is what OM creates among Olympian players That this joy of@lirola_kosoknice to see! pic.twitter.com/qOjgVtyJ07
— Massilia1978 (@massilia1978) April 20, 2022
The Almighty Bike
In control, the Phocaeans have complicated the task by leaving Andrei Girotto free from any marking on a corner. But as against Angers and Saint-Étienne, Jorge Sampaoli’s troops turned the tide thanks to two penalties from Dimitri Payet and the flat foot of the twirling Amine Harit. Without letting go, as the banner called it “Coward mentality nothing like Guendouzi” deployed by the MTPs before the match. The bends also applied the principle by giving voice throughout the match, including after Nantes’ second goal, immediately followed by a “To Arms” resounding.
“It was a great evening in terms of atmosphere, you could feel it in the intensityreplays Yanis, member of the Winners. There haven’t been so many evenings like that this year, for me it’s Nice, Paris, Angers, Basel and PAOK. Even when Nantes were leading, we didn’t give up, and on the pitch it followed. On the field, they made you want to give of themselves. The fact that it is tight behind in the standings also pushes us even more because there is a real stake. I fucked up my voice as rarely. At two o’clock in the morning, your ears are still ringing. When you come out of a match like that in a turn, you are washed out, as if you had played. » Ten minutes after the final whistle, the Fanatics could continue to sing: OM played pinball, but kept a good lead.
Game, set and almost match
Five days from the end, the Marseillais are thus six steps ahead of the trio formed by Rennes, Strasbourg and Monaco. The break is done. He still needs to be confirmed, while the reception of Olympique Lyonnais is looming on 1er may. “If we continue in this dynamic, we will finish second, that’s 100% sure.says Yanis. We often managed to come back in the matches where we were losing. When you see this state of mind and this cohesion, like Guendouzi, you feel that something is happening. It’s starting to smell like the Champions League, I believe in it crazy! »
Since the start of the season, OM have never lost two games in a row. Eight times out of nine, the blue and white club even won after a defeat. The only exception: the 0-0 against Galatasaray which followed the 2-3 loss against Lens in September. A significant ability to raise his head, noted by Nantes coach Antoine Kombouaré at a press conference: “It would be good to see Marseille in the Champions League, because we need big clubs to fly the colors of French football. It would be well deserved given their background. They have great players, play well, and when they are struggling like tonight, they are able to do what it takes to win. » The characteristic of a team which has won nine of its last ten games, which aims to keep its second place, and which does not refrain from lifting a European Cup in Tirana.
By Quentin Ballue, in Marseilles
