OM - Montpellier (1-0) | Thauvin leads Olympiens to fifth

Olympique de Marseille claimed 5th position in the Ligue 1 Conforama with a narrow 1-0 win over Montpellier HSC at the Orange Velodrome on Friday evening.

With Montpellier just ahead of OM in the table, Rudi Garcia’s men needed to claim all three points to overcome Michel der Zakarian’s men in the final game of the season. Sporting the new home shirt for the 2019-20 season, the team started the game strongly.

In a cagey opening Valere Germain and Luiz Gustavo spurned opportunities for the hosts while Gaetan Laborde and Andy Delort kept Yohann Pele busy in the OM goal. The best chance of the half fell to captain Dimitri Payet, whose long range effort was well parried by Benjamin Lecomte.

In the second period OM hit the gas promptly. From a corner, Payet’s cross was helped on by Germain and then by Thauvin who forced the decisive touch over the goal line to give OM the lead.

Montpellier almost retaliated immediately with the visitors seeing a shot cannon off the bar as Garcia’s men sought to keep the game stable.

As the second half grew to a close, substitute Mario Balotelli was sent off by the referee for a rash challenge on Daniel Congre. Indeed OM saw the match to the end in a professional manner as the club leapfrogged the opposition into 5th place.