OM - Galatasaray (0-0) : OM could not find breakthrough
THREE CHANGES IN THE 11
After having made a lot of changes in the last games, between 5 and 7 changes in the last three games, Jorge Sampaoli made only three changes in his starting eleven. Compared to the home defeat against Lens (2-3), Alvaro, Lirola and Harit replaced Balerdi, Rongier and Gerson.
FIRST HALF
The Olympien 3-4-3 came up against the Turkish 4-4-2. The two blocks engaged in a tactical and physical duel. A real game of chess in which each side methodically advanced its pawns without being exposed. Marseille could not take advantage of two early chances but it was the men in white who had the best opportunities. A free-kick by Ünder was headed over the back of Van Aanholt's crossbar, Harit broke through the defence and had a shot blocked, and again Ünder's curling shot forced Muslera to turn the ball for a corner.
The first half was interrupted for ten minutes after Turkish fans threw pyrotechnics onto the pitch and into the Depé stand. Galatasaray coach Fatih Terim himself went to the foot of the area reserved for the Istanbulite fans to ask them to calm down. After several calls from the announcer in French and Turkish, the match resumed for eight minutes of extra time.
It was there, in the last second, that Galatasaray had their only real chance when Aktürkoglu's shot was saved by Lopez.
SECOND HALF
OM entered the second half much better than their opponents. In less than 15 minutes, Jorge Sampaoli's men had the Turks on the ropes and came close to opening the scoring. A long throw in from the right found Dieng, who pounced on the ball but the Senegalese was a little short and did not straighten the ball out enough to hit the target. Then Saliba headed in Payet's corner and the bar saved the Galatasaray keeper.
On the hour mark, the Orange Velodrome crowd rose to their feet for the introduction of their striker, Milik, who replaced Dieng. After his injury and surgery that kept him out of the Euro and the start of the season, the Pole is back in action.
The Olympians dominated this half, with the Turks regrouping in front of their box, determined to play the counter. In the 71st minute, Payet crossed back for Ünder, whose powerful shot from the edge of the area was saved by Van Aanholt on the line. The Galatasaray defender fouled Guendouzi in the box four minutes later. The Polish referee blew his whistle for the penalty before watching the action on video, only to reverse his decision to everyone's astonishment!
In the final minutes, OM pushed forward in the Turkish half but kept coming up against the Istanbulite defence. The eight minutes of extra time did not change anything...
After the point taken at Lokomotiv Moscow (1-1), OM draws again in the Europa League and has two points in as many matchdays.
