Lorient (AFP)

Marseille continued to climb to the top of the Ligue 1 standings (4th), beating Lorient 1-0 on Saturday on Matchday 8, in a Moustoir stadium caught in swirling squalls of wind and rain.

In front of nearly 5,000 frozen spectators, Dario Benedetto has still not found the net but it is another Argentinian, Leonardo Balerdi, a 21-year-old defender on loan from Borussia Dortmund, who is in charge.

This victory also allows us to forget a little the disappointment of the loss in extremis Wednesday against Olympiakos Piraeus (1-0) in the Champions League, before the reception on Tuesday from Manchester City, which still lacked offensive inspiration. at West Ham (1-1).

Aligned in a 4-4-2 diamond as for the beautiful victory against Bordeaux a week earlier (3-1), and while Dimitri Payet was serving his second suspension match, the Marseillais dominated the debates, with a Michaël Cuisance very stirring at the tip of the "diamond".

But for lack of intensity and success, they did not create many real opportunities.

Florian Thauvin's corners have often found a Marseille header, without posing any problems for goalkeeper Paul Nardi (8th, 26th).

And when Hiroki Sakai served in withdrawal a Thauvin demarcated in the box after a nice collective movement from Marseille, the strike from the middle, in slight imbalance, missed the right post (30th). The Lorient, often overtaken in defense since the start of the championship, appeared diligent at the back and reckless at the front, even showing themselves particularly dangerous at the start of the second period, where a strike from Quentin Boisgard grazed the post (52nd).

Yet this is where the Marseillais found the flaw.

On a floating free kick from Thauvin, Nardi let the ball fly just over his head but Balerdi, starting in place of Duje Caleta-Car in the central hinge, was in ambush just behind and managed to slip the ball from the head in the nets (0-1, 54th).

A few minutes later, Benedetto, who had missed a golden opportunity against Olympiakos, could have driven the point home, served by Thauvin high at the penalty spot.

But his head did not find the frame (60th).

The Merlus tried to react, with a strike from Boisgard that bounced into Mandanda's arms.

Ideally placed, Yoane Wissa, Lorient's top scorer last season and since the resumption this year, completely missed his shot (65th).

And Jordan Amavi returned in time to push back with his heel a strike from Jonathan Delaplace who arrived launched (86th).

Opposite, the Marseillais accompanied the deluge which continued to fall on the stadium with a rain of distant strikes, but none found the frame.

© 2020 AFP