Nice logically succumbed to a superior Marseille side in the game. Defensive errors proved costly, but the Eagles are not completely out of the race for Europe.
Having secured qualification to the Europa League final, OM hosted the Gym with the aim of not losing too many points following the wins by Monaco (1-2 at Caen) and Lyon (3-0 against Troyes). Nice needed to win to continue challenging Rennes, Saint-Étienne, and Bordeaux for fifth place.
In the fifth minute, Mario Balotelli navigated through the Marseille defense to deliver a powerful shot that left Mandanda, back from injury, with no chance (1-0, 5th minute). The Gym took an early lead.
But the Gym quickly fell back into old habits, and just before the 15-minute mark, Valère Germain took advantage of the leniency of the central defense duo Dante-Marlon to calmly equalize (1-1, 13th minute).
The first half was contested, but more in favor of the Marseillais, who didn’t manage to take the lead.
The second half began in a similar fashion, with the Eagles dominated and ceding possession to OM. A few counter-attacks posed no threat to Steve Mandanda.
As the Gym seemed headed for a rather fortunate draw, Clinton Njie, having just come on, broke free on the right and easily got past Dante. The ball returned to Germain, who let it go for Payet, who took his time controlling before scoring in the goal left open by Benitez (2-1, 72nd minute).
Despite a few attempts at the end of the match and the introductions of Srarfi and Le Bihan, the score didn’t change. The Eagles will have to fight hard against Caen next Saturday (21:00) but especially at Lyon, on the final day, to hope to catch the train leading them to a new European competition…
LUCIEN FAVRE’S REACTION
The first half was very difficult for us despite our early goal. We were more on the defensive since Marseille pushed hard. They had some chances, and we weren’t good at recovering the ball. It was too easy for them to penetrate the heart of our team. After the break, we were more compact and defended better. They didn’t have much, and we conceded an avoidable goal, which is very unfortunate… It was challenging for us because Marseille set a high pace and made a lot of runs back, everywhere. Yes, we struggled; it was tough. We needed more movement, runs in depth to push out and advance the team with long balls when pressed like that. It’s not always possible to play quick one-touch passes as we like with a team pressing us high. You need to have various strategies.
ARNAUD SOUQUET’S REACTION
“We started the match well by opening the score. Then, on the equalizer, even though Dimitri Payet had a favorable bounce, we should have been more eager to clear it, myself included. They equalized, that’s the game. I think we suffered from the pressure of their team and their athletic qualities. In the second half, we got punished on a mistake where we found ourselves outnumbered and afterwards, they scored a goal that we could have avoided.”
