Regrets for each Olympic. On the lawn of West Ham, Olympique Lyonnais failed to win 11 against 10 (1-1), while Olympique de Marseille won with a small goal when they largely dominated PAOK Salonika (2-1), Thursday, April 7.
- Lyon lacking in inspiration
In a long undecided meeting, the Lyonnais lacked solutions to win on the lawn of West Ham, in the quarter-final first leg of the Europa League. With 71% ball possession and 23 shots (against 5 for the Hammers), the Gones could have hoped for much better from their trip to the London suburbs. But faced with a well-grouped block, the OL attackers often lacked support and skill in the finish.
And while they were in numerical superiority after the expulsion of Aaron Cresswell just before half-time, the men of Peter Bosz scuttled themselves. Ghostly until then, Jarrod Bowen took advantage of a series of Lyon errors to open the scoring shortly after returning from the locker room.
The Gones still reacted quickly to equalize, through Tanguy Ndombélé, served by the rookie from Donetsk, Tetê. But despite their control of the ball, this achievement will remain the only one of the evening for the Lyonnais, who pushed without success. OL can harbor regrets as they had the opportunity to take a first step towards qualification, but everything remains to be done before the return match next Thursday.
- Marseille takes an option for qualification
The Marseillais come out victorious in their first duel against PAOK Salonika (2-1), in the Europa League Conference, in a boiling evening at the Vélodrome stadium. While incidents had already broken out in the Marseille city between the ultra supporters of the Greek club and those of OM, tensions were also felt within the Marseille enclosure.
Before kick-off, projectiles were launched between the visitors’ stand and that of the locals, in a thick smoke of smoke bombs. These throwing of projectiles continued during the meeting, when the players of Jorge Sampaoli appeared in front of the Greek supporters to take corners.
To try to make people forget these distressing images in the stands, Dimitri Payet took charge of ensuring the show on the ground. With great inspiration, the Marseille captain found Gerson for the opener shortly before the quarter-hour mark. Just before returning to the locker room, OM number 10 even widened the gap by resuming a corner from a sublime half-volley outside the Greek penalty area.
. @dimpayet17 MONUMENTAL 😱😱😱 A crazy volley sets the Velodrome on fire and it’s 2⃣-0⃣ for the… https://t.co/ileD0AMzec
Dominated in the first period, PAOK reacted from the start of the second, closing the gap through Omar El-Kaddouri. The Whites and Blacks were more to their advantage later, but the Marseillais made their technical superiority speak to hold the score.
They will travel to Greece, for the return match, with a goal lead but will have to do without several suspended players: Bamba Dieng and Boubacar Kamara, warned of a yellow card, as well as Gerson, expelled at the end of the match. Nothing is therefore done and the Phocaeans may regret not having taken more shelter, especially since the reception in Greece promises to be hostile.
