rough evening for Marseille, stopped in its tracks by Metz

A difficult evening for Marseille: the Phocaeans, who remained on six consecutive successes, conceded a draw in Metz (1-1) and lost their injury goalkeeper Steve Mandanda, Saturday December 14, during the 18th day of Ligue 1.

Despite this stoppage shortly before the winter break, Marseille still occupies second place in the French championship. OM are now four points behind Paris-Saint-Germain, still leading the L1 despite two games late, which will move to Saint-Etienne on Sunday.

In Lorraine, the Marseille evening could have been worse without the decisive intervention of its three replacements: Yohann Pelé pushed back the penalty of Habib Diallo's 2-0 (53rd minute); then, flat with the foot, Nemanja Radonjic equalized in the 70th – his 4th goal in his last five matches – on a center set back from Valère Germain.

Uninspired, the Olympians had a poor first period before slightly raising the bar after the break. But it turned out to be insufficient to beat strong Messins.

They will console themselves with their place as dolphin of PSG, even if Lille, winner in the snatch of Montpellier Friday (2-1), returned to four lengths.

Mandanda returns hoped for next week

At Saint-Symphorien, the man found his scorer Dario Benedetto, who missed the match against Bordeaux (3-1) last weekend due to a thigh injury. But like his team, the Argentinian was very timid.

Metz was therefore the most dangerous in the first half. After an overflow on the left, Diallo infiltrates the surface and tries his luck from a very closed angle, but Steve Mandanda pushes back with authority (9th).

Shortly after, on a withdrawal from Dimitri Payet, the Marseille goalkeeper is very scared: he performs a control that is too long and Opa Nguette steals the ball from him, before collapsing in the area before the referee's eyes, who does not flinch (25th).

But in the action, the French international goalkeeper injured his right ankle and had to give way to his lining Yohann Pelé a few minutes later (32nd).

After the meeting, André Villas-Boas was rather reassuring about the player's state of health, hoping at the microphone of Canal + that he "Be there against Nîmes" in a week, Saturday December 21. Disappointing, OM will settle for a point and now cross their fingers so as not to be deprived of their captain for too long.