Second place in Ligue 1 was reaching out on Saturday evening, January 28, to Olympique de Marseille, but Igor Tudor's players did not take advantage of the draw conceded in the afternoon by Racing Club de Lens . OM, who had won their last six league matches, were slowed down (1-1) by Monaco after a match in which each team dominated one period.
The gap between Lens (second with 45 points), Marseille (43 pts) and Monaco (38 pts) therefore does not change, while Paris Saint-Germain will have the opportunity to take a five-point lead over the Northerners. he beats Reims on Sunday evening to close this 20th day of the championship.
At the Stade-Vélodrome on Saturday, the Marseillais were jostled by the Monegasques during the first forty-five minutes, conceding a number of clear chances because of an assumed but risky imbalance. They thus continued to discover each other after the opener against his camp by Jordan Veretout, who deflected a free kick from Alexandre Golovin (17th) into his own cages, and could have been led more widely in the score if Wissam Ben Yedder had been more specific.
The ASM captain crossed his shot too much when he was in a very good position in the penalty area, then he missed a duel with Ruben Blanco by choosing to steal the ball above the starting Marseille goalkeeper in the second half. absence of injured Pau Lopez.
The trend was completely reversed after the break: the Marseillais largely dominated in the wake of the equalizer of Alexis Sanchez (47th), well placed to resume a mediocre intervention of the Monegasque goalkeeper Alexander Nübel. The Chilean striker was omnipresent, tremendously selfless in a very rhythmic and pleasant match. “Today I give him 10/10, he had a league game, which he is, praised Igor Tudor. He is a golden boy, with a big heart, a sense of responsibility. He wants to rotate the games and always help the team. »
“What is VAR for? »
Nuno Tavares also multiplied and tried a lot, in vain. Leonardo Balerdi narrowly missed giving OM the lead, when his point-blank header led the ball over the crossbar, then Sead Kolasinac shot over. On this action, OM would have liked to obtain a penalty for Maripan's tackle on Kolasinac in the box, but referee Jérémie Pignard, despite Olympian protests, did not flinch, much to the anger of Marseille president Pablo Longoria and Igor Tudor.
"What's the point, VAR [video refereeing], what's the point? “, wondered Pablo Longoria, very upset in the corridors of the Vélodrome, according to images broadcast by Canal . "For me, it's penalty and clean red. This is the biggest mistake I have seen since there is VAR in football. It's something inexplicable and unacceptable," Tudor said at a press conference.
After this incident, the end of the match was still hair-raising between cramps and more or less lucid last rushes. The two teams could have snatched the victory but separate tied (1-1). Despite this draw, Marseille fans still have reason to rejoice: the club announced earlier on Saturday an "agreement in principle" with Angers to bring in Moroccan midfielder Azzedine Ounahi.
Lens patina
In the afternoon, Lens had been held in check in Troyes (1-1), confirming a trend: the Sang et Or have failed to chain two league victories since the post-World Cup resumption. At the Stade de l'Aube, Frank Haise's players were even behind for most of the match. A cross shot from the left foot of Yasser Larouci (50th) allowed Troyes to open the scoring, while Estac could have benefited from a penalty a few moments earlier.
Lens then dominated weakly, and continued their efforts without finding the fault because of awkwardness in front of the goals. It was finally the winter rookie from Strasbourg, Adrien Thomasson, who managed to equalize by being in the right place at the right time (88th) at the conclusion of a confused action, like the Lensois match.
What regrets for Troyes, who had the opportunity to double the bet by Rony Lopes twice: after a tumble from Mama Baldé first (77th), then in the area in the wake of a counter (85th) , but his right foot strikes – his bad foot – flew away.
Lens pushed, getting a last chance by Przemyslaw Frankowski, who chose to strike rather than cross, while his teammates were numerous in the Trojan penalty area.
“There are several feelings, said after meeting Lensois coach Franck Haise. The very first is the satisfaction of not having lost, of having sought this logical equalizer, especially since they have the ball at 2-0. The second is the disappointment of not having taken the three points in a match that we dominated by 95%. The third is that we have to be fairer against this type of adversity. Playing closed teams is part of the game."
But Lens is still Ligue 1 runner-up.
