OM sent out a signal with their fantastic win at the Parc des Princes on Sunday evening. Apart from winning the "Clasico", Marseille have come back to one point behind the league leaders Lyon!
1-1: Giuly (43’)
1-2: Koné (54’)
1-3: Cana (61’)
HUGE – Pulling off such a victory in hostile territory in a match with so much at stakes deserves no other description.
This was THE match to win. A match to win because it was the great derby of the L1. A match to win because of the desire for revenge after the first encounter between the sides earlier in the season. A match to win because of the OL result just two hours earlier which made the stakes even higher.
OM di dit and did it brilliantly. Let us not be afraid of using these words. The Marseille side pulled off, on Sunday night, their greatest win at the Parc des Princes since… Since when? As far back as we can remember, there is no recollection of a more controlled performance away to Paris in the last 15 years.
OM were a class above their opponents and that stood out right from the opening moments of the match. Positioned high up the field, OM were able to confiscate the ball from Paris. Less than 10 minutes had been played and already the shots were raining in on Landreau’s goal. Frozen by the high stakes of the game and surprised by the closing down of the OM side, PSG were unable to match their rivals. Far from it. They spent most of the time chasing the ball. And when they had it, the team from the capital saw all of their passes cut out.
No matter how great it was, the opening goal just seemed logical. Brandao back heeled the ball to Zenden, with the Dutchman breaking clean through the Paris defence before firing into the bottom corner to the delight of the visiting supporters (0-1).
The work put in by Cheyrou and Cana in midfield, as well as the harrasing of Valbuena stopped dead all hope of a Parisian reaction. And when that was not suffcient the central defensive pairing of Civelli and Hilton stepped in to mop up the danger. Things should have stayed like that until half-time, but on one of the sporadic offensive actions from Paris, they managed to equalise. Hoarau taking advantage off the off-side rules to cause a distraction which left Giuly perfectly positioned to pick up a Luyindula pass. The former Barcelona player made no mistake with his shot and brought his side back into the match (1-1).
OM had it all to do again. But had anything really changed? Not really. Marseille kept well in control of the match, dictating the tempo, as was shown by an acceleration which forced Camara into bringing down Zenden just outside the box. Free-kick, red card. A useless sacrifice. Landreau’s save from Zenden’s effort fell luckily to Koné for the 2nd OM goal (54’, 1-2).
A one goal lead + numerical superiority + domination of the play, things were looking good for OM. Erik Gerets could feel it and they completed their domination by adding another goal. Koné easily found Cana in the centre of the park. The Albanian controlled with his chest at the edge of the area before firing in a shot which towards the post. The anticipation during the time the ball took to hit the back of the goal was almost unbearable! The OM camp were then able to let their joy explode!
At that point there was just under 30 minutes left to play, and unless there was an unprecedented collapse OM seemed to have made a huge leap towards victory.
There was to be no comeback. Mears kept Rothen quiet down his left wing. And each of his partners did the same in their respective areas of the pitch. OM even played keep ball to the cheers of their 2000 proud and euphoric supporters. The joy was shared even well after the final whistle at he foot of the stand occupied by the OM followers.
OM wiped away the sleight of home game and showed their ambition for the end of the season in spectacular manner. On Sunday night OM were just too good. In every sense of the term …
53'
43'
73'
80'
74'
