Sprint finish takes Marseille past Monaco
A tight match was expected, as the two teams entered it level on points while having three wins each and a draw from the last seven H2Hs. Jonathan Clauss looked the most likely to be the early difference maker due to his crossing quality, although Nuno Tavares and Mattéo Guendouzi both failed to hit the target when latching onto the wing-back’s deliveries. Marseille’s frustrations in front of goal continued as Amine Harit skewed an attempt horribly wide before Samuel Gigot cleared the crossbar from a golden opportunity.
Monaco had openings of their own but also lacked a clinical edge, with Kevin Volland’s strike on the half-hour mark being routinely saved by Pau López’s feet. Alexis Sánchez finally brought the finesse the game had been crying out for in the 35th minute, luring Benoît Badiashile into fouling him before picking himself up and curling an unstoppable free-kick into the top corner. When Krépin Diatta won a penalty from Leonardo Balerdi in the final moments before HT, Wissam Ben Yedder audaciously produced a Panenka to restore parity.
Buoyed by their equaliser, the hosts had a strong start in the period that was helped by Axel Disasi roaming further forward from right-back, and his shot tested López. However, his unfortunate coming together with Harit resulted in the Marseille man being stretchered off having been due to travel to Qatar with Morocco. Les Olympiens looked subdued for some time after that incident while Monaco looked to edge ahead and Aleksandr Golovin slipped through Volland, allowing the striker to take the ball into his stride and calmly finish.
The game grew heated as it entered the final stages but Jordan Veretout kept his cool to end a 63-game goalless run and fire in Marseille’s 84th-minute equaliser. After winning a free-kick in the final seconds, Dimitri Payet put in a superb delivery that Sead Kolašinac rose to get the finest of touches on and beat Alexander Nübel, earning back-to-back wins for Marseille. Meanwhile, Monaco’s four-game unbeaten run in all competitions came to a dramatic end.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Jordan Veretout (Olympique de Marseille)
