Cengiz Ünder equalised 15 minutes from time to snatch Marseille a point and deny ten-man Lille a memorable win at the Stade Vélodrome on Sunday, but the hosts passed up the chance to draw level on points with Nice in second place in the Ligue 1 Uber Eats table.
THE MATCH
Marseille came into the game on the final step of the Ligue 1 Uber Eats podium, but with Rennes and Monaco having moved to within two and three points respectively of Jorge Sampaoli's men with their 6-0 crushing of Bordeaux and 4-0 win over Clermont earlier in the day, the hosts knew dropped points would give their rivals hope.
Lille, however, had been in good form in December and were fresh following the postponement of their fixture with Lorient last weekend, and with their UEFA Champions League Round of 16 tie with Chelsea looming, the French champions were looking to maintain momentum.
Jocelyn Gourvennec's men soon hit their stride. Burak Yilmaz brought a fine save from Pau Lopez with a crisp hit from outside the area (15') and from the resulting corner, Lille went in front. William Saliba was included in the OM line-up after testing negative for COVID-19, but the on-loan Arsenal defender should have been more positive about his marking of Sven Botman, allowing the Netherlands international centre-back to escape his attentions and head home Renato Sanches' delivery (15').
Marseille had lost just one of their last 11 league games, and only one of their last 10 top-flight encounters with Lille, but the hosts nearly saw the match taken away from them inside the opening 22 minutes: Lopez brilliantly keeping out Yilmaz' diving header from another wicked Renato Sanches cross with a second Lille goal seemingly inevitable (22').
Ex-Lille man Dimitri Payet mustered Marseille's first threat, bringing a flying save from Ivo Grbic with a trademark bending free-kick (29'), before Benjamin André inexplicably earned himself a brace of yellow cards within a minute — the first for dissent — and suddenly the experienced LOSC midfielder was heading to the dressing room for a very early bath (32').
The second half was, as might be expected, dominated by Marseille. But their 80+% possession counted for little as they struggled to make an impact on the visiting defence. Jonathan Bamba even looked to have caught them cold on the counter-attack, but after putting the finishing touch to Yilmaz's ball, the offside flag pooped his party (70').
OM had scored in each of their previous six league games, and they stretched that to seven thanks to Ünder, who had been sent off in the duo's meeting earlier this season. Arkadiusz Milik had sent an effort just over (74') before Ünder was picked out by Payet on the edge of the box and he curled a delightful shot around Grbic and into the far corner (75').
With Lille rocking, Marseille sought to deliver the knockout blow but Gerson shot just wide after Botman's poor clearance (80') and Grbic boxed clear an Ünder long-range drive (90+3') — the last of the hosts' 10 attempts at goal in a one-sided second half — to frustrate OM, who are now two points adrift of Nice.
THE PLAYER: Cengiz Ünder
The Turkey international was a constant menace to Lille, and his excellent display would have brought more goals — and a win for Marseille — but for Grbic and a fraction more good fortune.
THE STAT: 0
Marseille are — along with Italian strugglers Salernitana — the only club in one of Europe's top five leagues yet to score in the opening 15 minutes of a league game this season.
