Despite Monaco catching them up twice, OM managed to score the extra goal to give them victory, Cissé scoring five minutes from time. With this win, OM are once again in third place.

Dominating the game in the first half against a transparent Monaco side, OM opened the scoring through Nasri (28th). However, the players from the Principality came back in the second half completely changed and equalised with a header from Rodriguez. It was the start of an intense chase. Taiwo renewed Marseille’s lead (61st), a lead which was in turn quickly cancelled out by Leko with a lob (64th). A crazy end to the game saw Cissé and his desire win OM all three precious points (83rd) which puts OM back into a third place they had lost last week with a one point lead over Nancy.

«A real derby» commented Eric Gerets in the corridors of the Louis II stadium after the game. The opposition between Marseille and Monaco had all the ingredients which make these regional derbies so great. Desire a go go, breathtaking turn arounds of situations non stop and at the end of the game five goals, all of this with tackles flying and 8 yellow cards given out by Laurent Duhamel. And as these matches so often are won with a strong mentality, OM had enough faith that they would be back in third place managed to win the game even though they were caught out twice by Monaco. At the end of the day all the efforts paid off as OM are now back in third place and hold their future in their own hands. Something that wasn’t the case after the round 33 game two weeks ago.
However, despite the fact that OM brought back from Monaco that which they came looking for, we mustn’t forget that this Monaco-OM was a strange match. The first hal hour of the game took place almost exclusively in the middle of the park. Zero chances for either team, Moaco inoffensive and OM unable to develop their attacking game. That is until the 28th minute exactly, when Kaboré played in a beautiful pass to Nasri who fired home past Roma (1-0, 28th). This should have allowed them to take control of a game that was more than lacking in chances apart from a shot from Niang (32nd). The first half gave no indication of what would transpire in the second.
Almost unnoticed, the replacement of Gakpé by the youngster from Marseille Bakar at half time would be an ace in the hole for Monaco, who were a changed side in the second half. There where OM hesitated, the local team went out with a vengeance. In the 55th minute, Mandanda pulled off a fantastic save from Bakar but, from the following corner, the Uruguayan Gonzalez heade home past OM’s keeper (56th). The closed game of the first half gave way to some free flowing football from both sides. From a Cheyrou corner, the ball was flicked on by Cana, Cissé shot and hit the post but, Taiwo had follewed in an rocketed a shot home (1-2, 61st).
Had Monaco’s flame been dampened? Far from it, from another corner, Mandanda punched the ball away in the direction of Leko on the edge of the box, the Croat played in an inch perfect lob that Kaboré was just unable to reach (2-2, 64th). The game at the Louis II stadium became very intense and Nasri kept that up with a powerful header from a Cheyrou cross which grazed Roma’s post (77th).
After having twice been in the lead and twice been caught, OM could not finish the game in this way. A moment of genius from Niang and all of Cissé’s desire and rage would make the difference. From a squared ball by Nasri, the man from Senegal backheeled the ball directly into the path if Cissé who span around and with a toepoked left foot shot put his team back into the lead. A one goal lead that would, this time, not be caught despite Monaco remaining menacing, and the entries of Zubar and Zenden to try and put more control on the game. A succesful chase/race before returning to the one in the League with Nancy with only three games left to go.

Emmanuel Jean
Photos : Yannick Parienti