The Marseillais ensured the essential by winning 2 goals to 1 against FC Basel, before the return match in Switzerland next Thursday.
Arek Milik scored twice, but the Marseillais still lacked realism.
Jorge Sampaoli's men complicated their task by conceding a goal in the last quarter of an hour when the FC Basel players had not been dangerous until then.
At the Velodrome stadium,
Sentiment shared in Marseille, despite a good match by Jorge Sampaoli's men.
Olympique de Marseille provided the essential Thursday evening at the Vélodrome stadium by beating FC Basel 2 goals to 1 in the first leg of the round of 16 of the Europa League Conference.
But once again, the Marseillais were not enough killers.
And as too often, they scared themselves at the end of the match by conceding a goal in the last quarter of an hour.
“You have to highlight what the team has achieved, but it's true that it's a shame to come back with this short gap.
Especially since there seems to be offside on their goal, ”analyzed Jorge Sampaoli after the meeting.
We need to be sharper
And there is reason to regret Dimitri Payet's teammates, as they largely dominated their opponent.
Milik, still him, did not tremble when converting his penalty (18th) with a subtle panenka.
It was again he who offered a comfortable advantage to his team by being at the right time, in the right place, to take back a ball pushed back by the Swiss goalkeeper (67th).
Which makes 28 goals in 44 games for the Polish striker, only Didier Drogba has the same ratio with OM.
But the number 9 seems far too alone to be able to make the difference on the OM side, even if we could see the best in terms of play. “We have to be sharper, prove the difference in level with our opponents.
We should have left with a minimum of four goals,” lamented Jorge Sampaoli.
Apart from Milik, and his two goals, OM was a metaphor for Jean-Claude Dusse, unable to conclude his 15 or 16 chances of the match.
“Going to play in Switzerland with this small gap”
And what happens too often in Marseille happened again with the reduction of Esposito's score, totally against the court of the game (78th).
“Yes there is a lot of frustration.
It's a victory, in content it's positive, we have to build on that.
But it's frustrating because we mastered the match, we were hardly endangered by the opponent, ”also regretted Valentin Rongier.
The midfielder could even have cost his team a draw, with a header close to deceiving his own goalkeeper.
But Steve Mandanda still saved his people from an equalizer that would have hurt a lot (85th).
The main thing is therefore assured for OM who produced a good game, as in the first half against Monaco (0-1), but the return match promises to be more complicated than it should have been, the next week in Basel.
“We will have to go play in Switzerland with this small gap.
They shot once, we opposite have 20 chances, but it doesn't turn out for us.
Luck is not on our side, we must continue to work on that before going to Switzerland to show that we are better than this team, ”said Sampaoli.
A task all the more complicated without Dimitri Payet, suspended for his yellow card received in the first half.
Sport
OM – FC Basel: Milik scores a double but the Marseillais play to scare each other before returning to Switzerland...
Sport
OM: "We cannot play with this fear", Sampaoli regrets the anger of the supporters
Jorge Sampaoli
OM
Marseilles
Soccer
Europa League Conference
Sport
0 comment
0 share
Share on Messenger
Share on Facebook
Share on Twitter
Share on Flipboard
Share on Pinterest
Share on Linkedin
Send by Mail
To safeguard
A fault ?
To print