Marseille striker Vitinha (right) against Nantes Kader Bamba, at the Beaujoire stadium, in Nantes, September 1, 2023. SEBASTIEN SALOM-GOMIS / AFP
A sparkling first quarter of an hour – desire, a goal, a red card for an overwhelmed opponent – and then nothing. Olympique de Marseille gradually died out on Friday, September 1, against a rebellious FC Nantes, and conceded a 1-1 draw at the start of the 4th day of Ligue 1.
Admittedly, with two wins and two draws, OM are provisionally leaders of Ligue 1 with a one-point lead over Monaco – which hosts Lens on Saturday at 9 p.m. – but the Marseille club is struggling to meet all the expectations created by recruitment. ambitious offensive.
In an incandescent Beaujoire, led by a Loire stand overmotivated by recent conflicts with the management of the club, OM nevertheless made Nantes live a hellish first quarter of an hour, suffocated by each offensive and multiplying the loss of ball on the stifling pressing of visitors. A first ball in the area for Vitinha set fire to the Canaries defense (1st), before Chancel Mbemba hit over the bar when he was unmarked (2nd). On a new huge opportunity, Vitinha then came up against Descamps (3rd). A minute later, Descamps again repelled a shot from Vitinha, but Ismaila Sarr took charge of a powerful shot to put the ball in the back of the net (4th).
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Mohamed, the Nantes flame
It was then the young Bastien Meupiyou, 17 and propelled holder for the first time in his career, who cracked with a gross foul on Sarr in front of his surface as the last defender, logically receiving a red (9th).
These attractive debuts for OM turned out to be a flash in the pan. Marcelino’s men gradually sank into a rough game, and allowed FC Nantes, however lacking in confidence, to regain momentum. Back to goal control, half-turn and perfect shot: center forward Mostafa Mohamed, who already scored twice against Monaco last week (3-3), once again hit the bull’s eye for the goal of equalizer (39th). The Egyptian is now the league’s top scorer, tied with Monegasque Wissam Ben Yedder (4 goals).
“We stopped playing” regretted Marcelino after the game. “We thought the game was over” after the eviction.
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Lack of precision
Like the Argentinian Joaquin Correa, not very incisive for his first start, the Olympians often lacked precision on returning from the locker room, obtaining few serious chances in the second period. It was in the last quarter of an hour, one-way, that the Marseillais proved to be dangerous again, Aubameyang missing the target (90 + 4) at the end of the match. An insufficient awakening to make the decision in the face of these Nantes residents always in slow motion.
With two defeats and two draws, the accounting result is not brilliant after four days for the players of Pierre Aristouy, fifteenth in the championship. But Nantes can boast, as against Monaco last week, of having bent without breaking against a team far superior on paper and in a boiling context.
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“It’s an important match, an important point given the way it went”estimated the Nantes coach after the draw.
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