Olympique de Marseille handled the pressure perfectly. First that of the Racing Club de Lens which, thanks to its easy victory on Saturday at Angers (3-0), had stolen second place in the standings; then that of the Stade de Reims, impressive solidity for several weeks and which accumulated nineteen games in a row without defeat in Ligue 1 before receiving the Phocaeans, Sunday March 19 evening, at the end of the 28th day.
Led by a team that remained in six games without conceding a goal in the league, the Marseillais even managed to reverse the trend thanks to Alexis Sanchez, decisive double scorer, and to inflict the young Belgian coach, Will Still, his first defeat. in the league (2-1) since replacing Oscar Garcia on the Reims bench in October.
In a totally unbridled start to the match, the Rémois therefore struck first in the 13th minute. After a magnificent control, Marshall Munetsi took the ball on the left of the surface before serving back Folarin Balogun, who scored his 17th goal of the season in the league.
Munetsi has tried everything
Marseille only needed a few minutes to equalise. On the engagement, Thibault De Smet made a big mistake on Cengiz Ünder, offering a free kick 25 meters in the axis to the Olympians. A golden opportunity that Alexis Sanchez converted with a sublime wrapped shot, with the help of the left upright of the cage of Yehvann Diouf (16th).
The vista of the Chilean striker paid off again a quarter of an hour later. After being forgotten by Reims captain Yunis Abdelhamid, Sanchez received alone against Yehvann Diouf a long ball from his own goalkeeper, Pau Lopez, which he only had to push into the back of the net (29th) .
Far from being defeated, Reims continued to look for the opener in the second half, and had several opportunities to equalise. First, a header from Munetsi hit the outside of the right post of Pau Lopez (58th), then the Marseille goalkeeper deflected with one hand a free kick from Alexis Flips who was spinning in the skylight (61st).
Munetsi had a new opportunity a few minutes later, but Pau Lopez intervened on his shot (66th). On the counter, Nuno Tavarez dribbled Yehvann Diouf out of the Reims area but then completely missed his shot. The midfielder of Reims, Dion Lopy, in turn distinguished himself a few minutes later with a powerful strike at the entrance to the surface, stopped without difficulty by Pau Lopez (72nd).
Alexis Sanchez in leader, selon Tudor
Marseille never managed to score the knockout goal, despite a great opportunity for Samuel Gigot, served alone in the area by Alexis Sanchez, but who did not frame his header (83rd). In added time, Reims had a last chance to equalize but Balogun saw his shot hit Lopez's left post (90 3), sealing Marseille's success.
“Winning here is not within everyone's reach, could appreciate the Marseille coach, Igor Tudor at the end of the match. The mindset and mentality have been very good. (…). Alexis Sanchez did what leaders do, also in the dressing room at half-time. We are lucky to have him with us. »
Provisionally overtaken on Saturday by Lens (57 pts), the Olympians recovered their second place in the standings with 59 points, seven points behind the leader, Paris SG, defeated earlier on Sunday by Rennes (2-0).
With 43 points, Reims fell to 9th place, overtaken by Lorient (8th, 44 pts), and experienced their first setback under the Still era. “I can only be proud because few teams will play nineteen matches without losing, and will put this Marseille team in difficulty, analyzed the Reims technician. Maybe I become a real coach after losing…. We wrote a very good story during nineteen games, we have to write another one, because there are ten games left to play. »
