Valère Germain came off the bench to head Olympique de Marseille back onto level terms late on as André Villas-Boas's side overcame Luiz Araujo's opener, securing a 1-1 draw.
Olympique de Marseille 1-1 LOSC
THE MATCH
LOSC carried just one of the three undefeated records league-wide into their meeting with Marseille at the Orange Vélodrome, and they started brightly on the Mediterranean coast. Burak Yilmaz thought he had made it 1-0 with his first goal since his summer arrival from Besiktas, finishing low beyond Steve Mandanda, but the forward had been offside before sprinting clear (4'). Marseille never really got going in the first half - the closest they came was when Alvaro Gonzalez headed a rather meek attempt from Florian Thauvin's corner into Mike Maignan's gloves (25'). Araujo had Mandanda scrambling at the other end soon after when his effort from range fizzed past the France goalkeeper's post (29'). Lille ended the half stronger than their hosts. Jonathan David rather overhit a square ball to Yilmaz when the OM defence was shorthanded (39') and Zeki Çelik stung Mandanda's gloves with a powerful shot from the edge of the area (42') before referee Hakim Ben El Hadj's whistle for half-time went with the deadlock intact.
Araujo on song
The clean sheet lasted all of two minutes into the second half, though. Jonathan Bamba - LOSC's top scorer this season with two goals - reverted to his more familiar role of provider with a perfectly weighted through-ball for Araujo, and the Brazilian finished coolly into the far bottom corner (47'). Yilmaz nearly made it two moments later, but David's cross was always running away from him and he hit the post despite being unmarked (47'). Having been quiet in the first half, Araujo looked fired up after his goal, and he came close again just past the hour when his fizzing first-time shot was tipped over the bar by Mandanda (62'). The midfield magician then crashed a free-kick off Mandanda's crossbar as Marseille held on (65'). Mandanda made another smart reaction save from David, who had powered a header at him from close range (74'), and his heroics at the back were rewarded when Germain headed home Morgan Sanson's corner late on (85').
THE PLAYER: Steve Mananda
It is difficult to imagine that Marseille would have had any share of these points had Mandanda not been in such resilient form. Opposite number Maignan has been preferred to Mandanda for France's coming UEFA Nations League games with Sweden and Croatia, but the OM custodian should be back in the international mix in no time if he keeps putting in performances like this.
THE STAT: 7
This was the first time in seven games that this fixture has ended in a draw. The last time OM and LOSC shared the points was back in March 2017 at Lille's Stade Pierre-Mauroy.