1st Team

OM - Porto (0-2) : Better, but not enough

Analyse
Champions League
Posted by
OM.fr
On Wednesday 25 November 2020 at 09:46
The Marseille team lost at home to FC Porto. Sanusi and Oliveira scored both Portuguese goals.

Homage to Diego Maradona

The news came a few hours before the kick-off of the match between OM and FC Porto. Diego Armando Maradona died at the age of 60. Tributes have followed one another to honour the memory of an iconic football legend. From Argentina to Naples to Barcelona, Maradona was a player who left his mark on several generations.
A minute's silence was observed before the kick-off of the match on the pitch of the Orange Velodrome.

Hommage

 

RETURN TO 4-3-3 and a first for luis henrique

19 days. That's the time l'OM have been without playing since their last outing in Strasbourg on 6 November, when the Olympians won 1-0. L'OM should have played last Saturday at home against Nice but the match was postponed due to too many cases of players suffering from Covid-19 at Nice.

So 19 days later, André Villas-Boas came back to 4-3-3 whereas the Marseille team had started in 4-4-2 in Alsace. Very good at Meinau, Balerdi was renewed but next to Alvaro, suspended against RCSA, and not Caleta-Car. In attack as well, some changes were made: Germain was in the lead and Luis Henrique was in the lead for the first time.

 

RHYTHM AND DESIRE

This is what the Olympians were reproached for in their previous outings, even when they won, as in Strasbourg for example with only one shot during the game. On Wednesday evening, right from the start, André Villas-Boas' players showed desire and determination. Moreover, it was the Marseille players who dominated the debates at the beginning of the game. They had the first chances with Sanson (4th), Kamara (11th) or a header from Germain who forced Marchesin to a nice horizontal save (15th).


However, as the first period wore on, Porto slowly took the lead. After half an hour of play, the Portuguese were more pressing. Sanusi tries a first one but Mandanda keeps watch.  In the 39th minute, a corner will be fatal for OM. Corona's first header bounced off Kamara's back, the ball comes back to Sanusi, his shot is pushed back by the thigh of the Marseille keeper but the ball comes back to the Nigerian and his second attempt hits the target.

 

SECOND HALF CHANGES

The second period started at a slower pace than in the first half and Porto had the upper hand. André Villas-Boas decided to provoke an electro-shock in his team with a triple change. Payet, Benedetto and Cuisance came into the game instead of Luis Henrique, Germain and Kamara. From the first ball, Thauvin was not far from scoring after a cross from Payet, but Mbemba took the ball away from him with the tip of his foot.
In the 67th minute, Grujic made a strong tackle on Benedetto. Already cautioned in the first half, he left his team-mates and OM found themselves on a numerical advantage. But two minutes later, Balerdi committed a foul in the box. Porto got a penalty, which Sergio Oliveira converted and the Argentinian was sent off after a second yellow card.


Nagatomo and Aké also came into the game but it was Benedetto who had three chances to score, the last of which found the post of Marchesin in additional time.

 

ObjectIVE: Europa League

With this fourth defeat in four Champions League games, OM is now at the bottom of Group C with 0 points. The only objective now is third place, occupied by Olympiakos, beaten by Manchester City earlier in the evening. The Greeks have three points, so they will have to win next week at home against Mathieu Valbuena's club to hope to clinch a ticket to the Europa League.