Gennaro Gattuso, who had a difficult time since his arrival on the OM bench (2 defeats, win in Ligue 1, draw in the Europa League), could finally breathe. After drawing with Ajax Amsterdam (3-3) and Brighton (2-2), OM got its first win against AEK Athens (3-1) in the Europa League Group B. A victory that allowed him to temporarily take the lead in his group.
The match, played in a great atmosphere, started with a tifo by Marseille fans to celebrate their 30-year friendship with Greek fans.
Without goalkeeper Pau Lopez, who was injured against Nice last Saturday, and with Geoffrey Kondogbia returning in the middle, Gennaro Gattuso opted for 4-3-3 for the first time since his arrival at OM. Up front, Vitinha was preferred over Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. It’s a paid choice. It was the Portuguese who set the Vélodrome stadium on fire (1-0, 27th), after the many failures of Iliman Ndiaye (5th, 20th, 26th), who was still interesting with his percussion but was not very clinical in front of the goals.
Vitinha takes Jonathan Clauss’ cross; This goal was confirmed after VAR review and that will do him good. “I talked to him,” Gattuso said of him on Wednesday. He needs to be ready because his moment is coming. He’ll get his chance. I don’t want to see him sad, I want to see him smiling. He needs to train intensely. »
If Pineda equalized at half-time (1-1, 53rd), OM had no doubts and were defeated thanks to two penalties converted by Amine Harit (2-1, 60th) and Jordan Veretout (3-1, 69e). In the first, AEK goalkeeper Stankovic was logically sent off after a massive restart error followed by a foul on Vitinha in the area. The match changed in Marseille’s favor in less than ten minutes.
