Frustrated after the setbacks suffered against Tottenham (0-2) and against Eintracht Frankfurt (0-1), the Marseillais had their backs to the wall when it came time to measure themselves against Sporting Portugal, leader of group D of the Champions League .

If they did not finally glean points, the objective of securing a place for the next round would have taken a lot of lead in the wing.

Igor Tudor and his men knew they were expected.

The context of this challenge was not ideal because the Marseillais were deprived of their supporters due to the closed session imposed at the Stade Vélodrome, a consequence of the excesses around the previous European match against Frankfurt.

And the last ingredient of this European meeting: a kick-off delayed by more than 20 minutes, the Portuguese team's bus having been the victim of the vagaries of traffic jams in Marseille.

And too bad if that annoyed coach Tudor a lot.

The Croatian technician, already reassembled, certainly did not take off when Sporting picked his team cold.

Trincao, in no hurry by the Marseille defense, had no trouble getting into a shooting position and opening the scoring with a curled shot after... 51 seconds into the game. A nightmarish start to the game for Ciel and White.

Adan sinks Sporting, Harit goes wild

The Portuguese, on track to obtain a third success in the Bouches-du-Rhône in three European matches, quickly lost their smile.

A man in their ranks hastened their downfall: the experienced goalkeeper and captain, Antonio Adan.

The Spaniard made a mistake by not clearing a ball passed by a teammate quickly enough.

Alexis Sanchez rushed to put the pressure on, successfully: the Marseillais countered Adan's clearance and equalized with success (13th).

In the process, OM took control thanks to a beautiful diving header from Amine Harit, on receiving a cross from Jonathan Clauss (16th).

Then, Adan made another gross mistake by going to touch the ball with his hand outside his box, in front of Nuno Tavares.

The referee, Davide Massa, had no other option but to send him off.

His replacement, Franco Israel, did not have time to get his bearings.

Leonardo Balerdi, with a header from a corner kicked by Harit, scored the 3-1 goal two minutes later (28th).

In the second half, the Marseilles, in numerical superiority, managed their lead without fear and finally scored a last goal by Chancel Mbemba (84th).

Despite the absence of the public, it was a great evening for Ciel et Blanc.

With these first three points, they relaunch fully in the race to qualify for the round of 16.

What's more, they netted four goals for a side that had remained impervious in their opening two games;

this allows OM to now have a positive goal difference (+1).

So much good news to be confirmed from the next match, still against Sporting, but in Lisbon this time.

It will be Wednesday, October 12.

The summary of the

France 24 week invites you to come back to the news that marked the week

I subscribe

Take international news everywhere with you!

Download the France 24 app