And 3! Third title of 2010 for this OM side which cannot seem to stop climbing onto podiums to pick up trophies. The summer break has not diminished any of their hunger for titles, after 17 years of starvation, this appetite is not ready to disappear.
The Olympians can be all the more proud of their newest title win as they put in a performance worthy of their standing before the happy ending.
Without doubt their best performance of pre-season, at the best of times we have to add because their opponents were Paris and there was a trophy up for grabs, but also because we are not far from the start to the new Ligue 1 campaign.
However, there was much to fear from this Clasico. Not because of the delocalization. We cannot imagine a more warm start to the new campaign, with the Tunisian public delighted to show that their hearts beat for OM.
No, if there was any worry, it was because between the suspensions (Brandao & Niang), the players not fit enough to take part (Heinze & Mbia) and those who had only played 45 minutes of a friendly encounter (Mandanda, Ayew & Valbuena), questions were being asked about what face OM would put out.
Another interrogation was if the side was going to be able to measure up to their status as Champions of France against their old enemy?
The first half wiped away these fears. If automatisms were lacking up front, with Samassa in the centre and Ayew and Valbuena on the wings, there was no lack of good play. Nor rhythm, which was quite high despite the heat, in fact it was much higher than that which is generally proposed in matches at the end of July.
Yes, chances could be counted on one hand, but something was happening oput on the green rectangle. The idea of a "final", or at least a cup game were not far away.
OM’s best opportunity came from quite a strange scenario, but for having watched recent matches, we may see it becoming an OPM classic in the 2010-11 season: A long throw from Azpi catapulted into the box for the head of Samassa, which unfortunately flew over.
Paris showed a little more conventional style, but efficient. They used the depth offered them by Luyindula and Erding. However, the former OM player could only fire into the crowd, before the Franco-turk found Mandanda blocking his path.

Ben Arfa on fire

On these two occasions, Paris had not been caught out by the offside trap. They would be the only two occasions. The OM defence did however find itself modified just before half-time because of an injury to Diawara (see elsewhere). Ndiaye came in and put in a solid performance, Azpilicueta had long since made his corridor a no go zone for the Parisians.
To try and open things up, Deschamps called upon Ben Arfa, to the great satisfaction of the public. The coach had nothing to complain about regarding his performance either. Extremely motived, Hatem lit up the encounter with jinking runs, one touch play and shots, a full spectrum of his talents.
But, the 0-0 scoreline seemed to be inevitable, even if Luyindula messed up a fantastic chance (86’) before Coupet could only thank his post for pushing away a shot from Taiwo which had been cleverly deflected by Ndiaye (88e).
On Wednesday morning we had already pointed out that the extra time of thirty minutes would not be played in this encounter, we hadn’t thought we would have need of it on the evening. However, a winner had to be found and the two sides took part in a penalty shoot-out. At a suspense filled to the exercise, Cissé fired home the winning effort after Mandanda had saved from Giuly.
Champion of champions, against the Parisian rival and with a diminished side. Well done OM!