ASSE - OM (0-2): 15 unbeaten for OM, 3 points over Saint-Etienne
ONe change For the eleven
Three days after the draw in Bordeaux (0-0) on Sunday evening, OM again went away to Forez to face Saint-Etienne to close Matchday 23 of Ligue 1 Conforama. André Villas-Boas ran out his incumbents from the match versus the Girondins, with one exception. Sarr dropped down on the right flank into the defence in place of Sakai, while the right wing was entrusted to Radonjic.
Minus the Marseille supporters
Clashes outside the stadium in Saint-Etienne just before the arrival of les Olympiens' supporters, their buses were pelted with stones. Ultimately, the police intervened and the match was postponed by fifteen minutes due to tear gas used to disperse the crowd … The moving of OM's supporters was hectic. Ultimately, the 400 Marseille fans who had made the trip to Forez were not allowed to attend the match. Through the first period, they were left in the parking lot of the Saint-Etienne enclosure, where incidents took place again, before finally returning to Marseille.
READ MORE: Official Communication from OM.
Payet opens the Scoring
After just 7 minutes of play, Payet found himself on the left side. He then dribbled M’Vila and after two moves along the line, he struck from the outside his left and beat Ruffier who had anticipated a centered ball to find a very small window just inside the first post. It was OM's first shot, and the only one in the first period.
The No. 10 also ended 193 minutes of OM's goalless play in Ligue 1 Conforama. The last Marseille goal came back back in the 84th minute of the match at Rennes (MD 20).
Radonjic Finds Space
As the OM held strong thanks to Mandanda's saves, Radonjic increased the lead. On a ball recovered by Germain, who had just entered the game shortly before, Sanson hit Radonjic in stride before the Serb was shot wide of Ruffier's.
A few minutes later, Radonjic scored off a Strootman assist at the end of the match.
The Right Move
By winning at Saint-Etienne, OM extended their unbeaten streak to 15 games and made a move in the standings. Indeed, after Rennes' defeat against Lille, Tuesday evening, André Villas-Boas' team now sits 6 points clear of third-place Stade Rennais, and the gap with the fourth-placed Lille remains the same at 9 points.
At 5:30 p.m. CET on Saturday, OM players will return to the Orange Vélodrome to host Toulouse on Matchday 24 in Ligue 1 Conforama.
