It was with marked faces that the OM players left the field at the Vélodrome. There were hints of disappointment and frustration, but no sign of defeat. If they felt bad, they knew that their revolt could have allowed them to finish off the week without a third defeat.
Their second half performance was not enough to wipe out that of the first and the two goals that they had conceded. But, it justified the words of Didier Deschamps who saluted the reaction of his troops, assuring that the team « can do better  ».
Having admitted on Thursday that he did not like playing last, Sunday night will certainly not change his opinion. His men were not able to take advantage of Bordeaux’s slip up against Saint-Etienne and are now 6 points behind league leaders OL. Happily enough, as the coach reminded everyone after the match, the end of the season is still a long way off.

After the caviar of Madrid, OM got back to their daily bread of the L1, but with the same poor taste, something which the first fifteen minutes did not seem to suggest. Cheyrou and Lucho had fired in three efforts on goal. The final one a volley from the Argentinean after a cross from Ben Arfa, lacked enough power to trouble Ruffier, who pulled off the first save of a long series.
To make matters worse, Monaco did not content themselves with sitting back and resisting, they also had the good fortune of opening the scoring with their first shot on goal. A free-kick from Nene (slightly deflected by the head of Lucho) found it’s way into the net (0-1, 20’)
This was a serious blow to OM, as was the second goal from Park in the 40th minute following a long pass from Alonso, OM’s task had become a lot more complicated (0-2).

OM had fallen into Monaco’s trap, how could they get out? By lifting their heads and fighting on. Ben Arfa did his best to do just that. Breaking forward, he played the ball to Niang, who chose not to shoot but to slide the ball to Morientes. His pass was, however, too long and caused despair amongst the supporters, traumatised by the turn of events.
After the anger, came more despair, and whistling from the stands as the team’s went in at half time.
But, the supporters swapped these for more encouragement towards their team after the break. With their supporters behind them, the OM players dug deep into their reserves searching for a reaction.

This was not the only difference compared to the first half. Didier Deschamps brought off Heinze, throwing on Valbuena and repositioning Mbia in the defence.
This extra attacking option brought about a great deal more chances for OM. Monaco began to suffer from the amount of pressure they were under, having to rely on their last rampart of Ruffier.
Already excellent and decisive last season during the 0-0, the Monaco keeper pulled off some fantastic saves from a Ben Arfa shot and Mbia header. And when that wasn’t enough, the bar stepped in to undo OM’s plans and a violent effort from Cheyrou.
OM came so close on a number of occasions and Monaco seemed almost as convinced as us, doing all that hey could to break the rhythm of the match and run down the clock as often as they could. The only thing that was not getting carried away, was the scoreboard.
Unfortunately, the break through came only in the 86th minute. Following a laser guided pass from Ben Arfa, Niang pulled a goal back (1-2). Time was running out, but maybe one final push could save a point. The Monaco players massed behind the ball suffered for a few minutes, but the victory was, unfortunately, not taken away from them.