After two draws against Braga and Benfica, Olympique de Marseille has returned to success against Saint-Etienne (2-1) and remains undefeated in its preparation. The Marseillais went to seek this victory at the very end of the game.
De la Fuente scored his first goal for OM (1-0, 2nd)
Olympique de Marseille are continuing their good preparation. The phocen club played its sixth friendly match this Wednesday evening and remains undefeated by winning against AS Saint-Etienne (2-1). OM gained confidence a little more than a week from the start of the championship.
A clear start for OM
The Marseillais entered this part with the will to impose a big pressing on the Stphanois. An effort quickly paid off since it was after a high recovery that De la Fuente scored his first goal for Marseille to give his team the advantage (1-0, 2nd). Very offensive, OM then had two opportunities to make a break on a strike from Rongier and then a diving header from Payet, who passed very close to the frame.
Attractive, the Olympians made a good start but still showed signs of weakness behind. The Greens took the opportunity to be dangerous and Khazri finally equalized for ASSE by recovering a balloon 20 meters before beating Ngapandouetnbu, who had taken the place of Mandanda, physically touched, at quarter of an hour of play (1-1, 21st). Behind, OM had possession of the ball and pushed but could not afford other scoring opportunities until the break.
Alvaro offers victory to OM
On returning from the locker room, Marseille no longer put the same intensity in the pressing. Saint-Etienne then took the opportunity to put his foot on the leather and get closer to the opposing goal, without really worrying the Marseille goalkeeper. Over the minutes, fatigue accumulated and the changes made on both sides brought down the pace of the match. The difference was finally made on a stopped kick. Upon receiving a corner shot by nder, Alvaro Gonzalez cut with his head at the near post to offer victory to the Olympians (2-1, 88th)! OM now have an appointment on Saturday with Villarreal for the end of their preparation, while Saint-Etienne will face Eintracht Frankfurt.
The score of the match: 5/10
A very interesting first period between enthusiastic and offensive Marseillais vis-a-vis Stphanois who played the blows bottom on cons. The second act was more disappointing, the fatigue and the changes lowered the pace.
The goals :
– Found the entry to the area by Benedetto, De la Fuente successfully controlled by turning around to eliminate his opponent and continued with a victorious left strike (1-0, 2nd).
– On a relaunch from OM, Khazri scrapes the ball in the feet of Rongier and arms a shot from the right to the ground which comes to rest near the opposite post (1-1, 21st).
– On a corner shot by nder, Alvaro appears at the near post to cut the trajectory of the head (2-1, 87th).
Player NOTES
Maxifoot has awarded a score (out of 10) comments on each player.
Man of the match: Konrad de la Fuente (7.5 / 10)
We may have the nice surprise of OM for the coming season. For his first tenure, the defector from Bara showed a really flashy face. If he scored his first goal in his new colors in the second minute, he was also dangerous for more than an hour with devastating acceleration which put the Stphanois defense badly. To watch very closely. Replace the 77th with Luis Henrique (not rated).
MARSEILLE :
Steve Mandanda (not rated) : slightly affected during warm-up, the Marseille goalkeeper tried to hold his place, but he ultimately did not want to take any risks by leaving quickly after a quarter of an hour, during which he had no stop doing. Replace the 15th with Simon Ngapandouetnbu (5), who quickly conceded a goal on his first intervention and interposed on an attempt by Bouanga in the second period.
William Saliba (6) : for his first tenure in the jersey of OM, the central defender delivered a very serious match. Apart from his difficult pass for Amavi in front of his goal at the start of the game, he made no particular mistakes and gained confidence over the minutes.
Leonardo Balerdi (5.5) : catastrophic against Braga then much more serious against Benfica, the Argentine defender is actually gaining strength. He wasn’t really put in trouble for an hour. Replace the 65th by Alvaro Gonzalez (not rated), which offers the victory OM by cutting the corner of nder at the near post.
Jordan Amavi (5) : positioned left in the defense of three Olympians, the training side still lacks benchmarks. But he didn’t make any big mistakes and notably made a very good tackle at the start of the match. Replace the 65th by Luan Peres (not rated).
Valentin Rongier (4) : in the position of axial midfielder in the possession phase, the former Nantais had the task of occupying the position of right side the loss of the ball. He did it rather well, but his loss of ball on the equalization of Khazri tainted his performance. He will still have to show more to win against strong competition for his position.
Matto Guendouzi (6) : in addition to his grinta, the midfielder loaned by Arsenal is a real plus in the game of OM. His desire to always want to play forward brings verticality to the Marseille game. A real asset.
Konrad de la Fuente (7.5) : read the comment above.
Dimitri Payet (6) : the OM playmaker confirms his good form. He again appeared very keen and made himself available to take the game on his own. He only missed the success in the last gesture tonight, the image of his plunging head which passes near the post. Replace the 46th by Pope Gueye (6), which confirms that it will be necessary to count on him with an entry full of authority and good intentions in the game.
Gerson (5.5) : the Brazilian midfielder put a lot of impact in the duels at the start of the match, which allowed OM to collect balls high on the pitch. He eased off a bit afterwards. We still expect a little more from the flagship recruit of summer Marseille.
Nemanja Radonjic (4) : Announced at the start, the Serbian winger gave the impression of wanting to show himself in his best light early in the match with some interesting acceleration and dribbling. But it quickly faded after a quarter of an hour. Replace the 46th by Cengiz nder (6), which appeared very leggy. The Turk kept provoking the ball in the foot to try to make differences on his side. His corner brings the winning goal.
Dario Benedetto (4.5) : The Argentinian was very altruistic at the start of the match. He was the decisive passer for De la Fuente on the opening goal, then he was not far from repeating the action which brought Payet’s plunging head. Unfortunately, he then completely disappeared. Replace the 65th by Bamba Dieng (not rated).
SAINT ETIENNE :
Etienne Green (4.5) : Quickly beaten by De la Fuente at the start of the match, the Stphanois goalkeeper is very happy to then see the attempts of Rongier and Payet pass near his post. He must bow at the end of the match on the head of Alvaro.
Yvann Maon (4) : the right side of Stphanois was responsible for blocking De la Fuente. He was unlucky since the Marseille rookie had fiery legs tonight. So he suffered a lot, but he still allowed himself some interesting climbs in the second half when his team regained some possession. Replace the 65th by Bryan Djile (not rated).
Harold Moukoudi (5.5) : quickly jostled by the vivacity of the Marseillais at the start of the meeting, the Stphanois defender recovered well thereafter. Replace the 65th by Marvin Tshibuabua (not rated).
Timothe Kolodziejczak (6) : a good match for the Stphanois defender who notably made an excellent comeback in front of Dieng to prevent OM from scoring just after the hour mark.
Mickal Nade (4.5) : the young defender sometimes seemed a little lost in his position. His poorly secured pass to Neyou provoked the opening of the Marseille scoring. Replace the 65th by Gabriel Silva (not rated).
Zaydou Youssouf (5) : the Stphanois midfielder was overtaken at the start of the meeting, faced with the impact of the Marseillais in the midfield. All the same, he was able to raise his level afterwards to respond to this. Replace the 65th by Assane Diouss (not rated).
Mahdi Camara (6.5) : the midfielder is becoming more and more important in leadership. It was he who controlled the tempo of his team to help them regain some air when Marseille pushed in the first half. In the second half, his pressing hampered OM a lot in construction. Replace the 65th by Baptiste Gabard (not rated).
Yvan Neyou (4) : jostled by the Marseille pressing, the ASSE midfielder appeared feverish at the start of the meeting and lost the ball on the opening of the Marseille score. A fairly neutral match overall then. Replace the 65th by Mathys Saban (not rated).
Adil Aouchiche (4) : the former Parisian has made a fairly discreet match. He did not really stand out during the 45 minutes spent on the lawn. Replace the 46th by Denis Bouanga (5), who was more enterprising and called on the Marseille goalkeeper on a deviated attempt for a corner.
Wahbi Khazri (7) : the most prominent Stphanois on the lawn. He was not always successful on his calls, being caught several times by the freelance offside, but he jostled the Marseillais and will seek the equalizer on his own by scratching the ball in the feet of Rongier . Replace the 46th by Ryad Boudebouz (5), who was inspired by some technical class gestures.
Charles Abi (4) : by touching the ball 50 meters from the opponent’s goal, the Stphanois striker could not really be dangerous. He did what he could, sometimes resisting Marseille pressing very well, but his offensive contribution was limited. Replace the 65th by Jean-Philippe Krasso (not rated).
And for you, who were the best and worst players of the game? Respond in the “comments” area below!
TECHNICAL SHEET
MARSEILLE 2-1 ST ETIENNE (half time: 1-1) – Friendly Match
Stadium : Jean-Laville Stadium, Gueugnon
Goals: De la Fuente (2nd), Alvaro (87th) for MARSEILLE – Khazri (21st) for SAINT-ETIENNE
MARSEILLE: Mandanda – Saliba, Balerdi, Amavi – De la Fuente, Rongier, Guendouzi, Gerson, Radonjic – Payet, Benedetto.
ST ETIENNE : Green – Maon, Moukoudi, Kolodziejczak, Nad – Youssouf, Camara, Neyou, Aouchiche – Khazri, Abi.
De la Fuente quickly opened the scoring for OM (1-0, 2nd)
Khazri scored for ASSE (1-1, 21st)
Alvaro offers victory for OM (2-1, 87th)
