The first act, marked by the throwing of a bottle at Dimitri Payet, was distressing. Two months later, Lyon, much diminished, succeeded on Tuesday 1er February to reverse a very bad situation to beat Marseille 2-1 and take three unexpected points.
Everything pointed to OM as the favorites for this match to be replayed. His series of five consecutive away victories, his confidence at the zenith and above all the avalanche of absences which affected OL. Aouar injured, Guimaraes left for Newcastle, Paqueta in selection with Brazil, Toko Ekambi at the CAN … The list was very long of unavailability a priori terribly handicapping for Peter Bosz.
But it was from another supposed absentee, Dembélé, announced ill but finally entered the game for the last half hour, that the victory came, with a very nice sequence of pivot control and a small stung ball which trapped Saliba then Pau Lopez (2-1, 86and). This goal came at a time when OM, obviously tired and that Jorge Sampaoli let suffer without intervening, had absolutely no control.
The equalization of the head signed Shaqiri on a beautiful cross from Gusto (1-1, 76and) was thus already a logical reward for Lyon, better in the second period after a still painful first 45 minutes. OM had second place in sight and could push OL even deeper. But in the end, the Provençals remain 3and two lengths from Nice while OL, which have won a third victory in a row, recover and come to place themselves in 7and rank, tied on points with Rennes (5and) and Montpellier (6and).
Payet, of course
The beginning of the evening, however, had not announced anything good for Lyon and OM seemed able to finally beat their Olympic rival, for the first time since 2007. The icy rain, the sinister silence behind closed doors, the memory incidents of November 21, the atmosphere was obviously not crazy at Groupama Stadium. There was therefore nothing to put out, but by opening the scoring very quickly, the Marseillais further darkened OL’s morale, forced by absences to field a baroque 11, with Cherki centre-forward or the usual full-back Emerson left winger. As the whole story of this Lyon-Marseille revolves around Dimitri Payet, the goal, of course, came from him and from a corner.
On the left, in front of the North Bend, at the exact spot where he had received the famous bottle in the head in November, the Marseille n°10 was able to hit his corner this time and put it on the head of Guendouzi, who easily got the better of Dubois, very tender on the spot (1-0, 10and). This goal sanctioned the really poor start to the game for the Lyonnais and at 1-0, with such diminished attacking potential, it was quite difficult to see how OL could get back into the game.
To the top
However, Peter Bosz’s players then had a fairly good period, finding some space in the Marseille defense, especially on the right via Gusto, his team’s best player despite being 18 years old. The Marseillais fell back a little but still remained the most dangerous, with Guendouzi still (18and) or on a counter evil concluded by Lirola (32and).
The second period, then, was rather Lyon. The Marseillais, some of whom seemed tired, lost a lot of balls and lost them quickly. They also played badly on several counter-attacks, notably with Guendouzi (57and) and especially Under (68and), who missed an easy chance from the left.
But OL, therefore, were much more dangerous, first with Cherki, who attempted a 60-meter lob on Pau Lopez, as always very advanced. The Spanish goalkeeper once again saved OM from a double save in front of Dembélé then Caqueret, but the tide had really turned. With this success, Lyon can look up again, even if the continuation is not easy with matches against Monaco, Nice, Lille or Lens. OM for their part hoped to forget the bottle affair and take a few points along the way. It failed and Sampaoli will have to relaunch his team, who are playing on Friday against Angers.
