Alexis Sánchez scored a second-half equaliser to earn Olympique de Marseille a 1-1 draw with AS Monaco at the Orange Vélodrome on Saturday.
Olympique de Marseille 1-1 AS Monaco
THE MATCH
Monaco were seeking revenge after losing 3-2 at home to OM when the sides met in November, and they came flying out of the traps in front of a sell-out crowd of over 60,000 at the Vélodrome. Marseille needed goalkeeper Rubén Blanco – standing in for the injured Pau López – to make a good early save low down to deny Eliesse Ben Seghir before Vanderson missed a glorious chance, failing to turn in Krépin Diatta’s low cross. Both of those opportunities came in the first five minutes.
The visitors went in front in the 17th minute when Jordan Veretout headed Aleksandr Golovin’s set-piece delvery into his own net. However, Philippe Clément’s side were left to regret not scoring more goals in a first half they completely dominated. Blanco notably made a fine stop to tip a Diatta shot around the post (28’) before saving from Wissam Ben Yedder a minute later.
Having been let off the hook in the first half, Marseille came out determined to turn the game around after the restart. Coach Igor Tudor replaced Mattéo Guendouzi with Leonardo Balerdi in a shuffle that saw Nuno Tavares move from the left wing-back role across to the right. That proved pivotal in bringing the equaliser 90 seconds into the second half. Tavares saw his shot spilled by Alexander Nübel, and Sánchez turned in the rebound (47’).
Bar denies Balerdi
Marseille then had the best chance to win the game after that, with Balerdi heading against the bar from close range following a Veretout corner (73’).
The draw means OM miss the chance to climb above RC Lens into second place on goal difference but it does allow them to keep Monaco at arm’s length in the fight for Champions League qualification. The gap down to the principality club in fourth remains five points.
THE PLAYER: Alexis Sánchez
Marseille are said to be looking for an attacking reinforcement before the January window closes but Sánchez again weighed in with an important goal. His second-half equaliser was his 10th goal of the campaign.
THE STAT: 8
The draw brought an end to Marseille’s run of eight consecutive wins in all competitions.
