Villeneuve-d'Ascq (AFP)

Two minutes that change everything! Marseille knocked out Lille by scoring twice in a row (2-1) and won a capital success on Sunday which allowed it to fly away in the fight for second place in Ligue 1.

OM's return to the Champions League is becoming clearer: with an 11-point lead over Rennes and 12 over Lille, thirteen days from the end of the season, the Marseille club has consolidated its place as the leader of the untouchable leader Parisian on the evening of the 25th day.

A goal against his side of Reinildo, who diverted a head from Valère Germain (67th), then another from Dario Benedetto in stride (69th) allowed the Marseillais to respond to the opening score of Victor Osimhen (51st) and to rule out a direct competitor in the race for C1.

Without being brilliant, Marseille, which also missed an hourly penalty by Valentin Rongier, proved to be extremely effective in winning a crucial victory.

For his 100th game at the head of the Mastiffs, the Lille coach Christophe Galtier however failed to succeed a crazy bet: to establish for the first time the defensive midfielder Jean Onana (20 years), arrived at the end of the transfer window from Leixoes (D2 Portuguese), to the detriment of Boubakary Soumaré. And even if Lille dominated for more than an hour, multiplying the waves, this choice ultimately turned out to be a loser, even if the Cameroonian made a good performance.

It must be said that OM were saved several times by their impeccable goalkeeper Steve Mandanda, who intervened on the coiled shot of Osimhen (4th) and pulled out a tap on a shot from point blank from Loïc Rémy (15th ).

OM, for its part, had some timid opportunities but Sanson, served at the entrance to the surface by Bouna Sarr, harvested by pulling well above (19th).

- Winning coaching -

Faster, more intense, Lille continued its domination and ended up being rewarded: with a subtle outside of the foot, Jonathan Bamba launched Osimhen, who beat Mandanda with finesse (1-0, 51st).

Then Rémy thought he worsened the score, but his goal was refused for an offside by Osimhen at the start of the action (57th).

OM seemed to be at the bottom of the abyss when, on a penalty obtained by Sarr, Mike Maignan deflected Rongier's attempt (61st).

Villas-Boas then changed its system to move to three central and strengthen its attacking sector with the entry of Marley Aké (63rd). This coaching proved to be a winner soon after as OM knocked out Lille with two goals in two minutes.

A header from Germain on a corner was diverted in its nets by Reinildo (1-1, 67th), then Benedetto crucified Maignan closely on a center of Germain (1-2, 69th).

Losc then tried to react, but too timidly to worry about the strong Marseille defense.

At the final whistle, the Marseille players exulted as if they had won a title, to the delight of the thousands of Marseille supporters who had invaded the bays of the Pierre-Mauroy Stadium and let their joy burst out loudly.

© 2020 AFP