Marseille had to dig deep to get back to winning ways against Auxerre on Saturday evening, claiming a 1-0 win in the Burgundy region after going down to ten men and opening the scoring thanks to a solitary goal from Angel Gomes. The hosts were tricky, even seeing a goal ruled out after Danny Namaso hit the back of the net – but OM would weather the storm and win by the tightest of margins to move back to second spot in Ligue 1.
Roberto De Zerbi switched Les Phocéens to a 3-4-1-2 owing to several injuries and rotation before facing Atalanta in the Champions League next week. Emerson, Pavard, and CJ Egan-Riley started in the back three, with a rare pairing of both strikers Robinio Vaz and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang leading the line.
Aubameyang had the first real chance for Les Olympiens after being sent in behind the AJA backline but couldn’t get his strike cleanly away, his effort blocked in extremis. After a tight and disjointed opening period, it would be De Zerbi’s men who broke the deadlock. Following a neat move down the right, Michael Amir Murillo produced a deft nutmeg before crossing to the far post, where goalkeeper Léon’s touch fell kindly into the path of Angel Gomes, who guided a controlled volley into the corner — his second goal of the season (30’).
The visitors continued to look fragile defensively. Sinayoko and Coulibaly combined dangerously on several occasions, forcing Gerónimo Rulli into two important stops before half-time. The Argentine was again decisive after the restart, denying Namaso from close range before VAR chalked off the equaliser for a marginal offside. Osman threatened for the hosts, with Namaso also posing a threat before Rulli had to intervene with a crucial save as Osman flicked goalwards at point-blank range. Robinio Vaz then made way for Igor Paixao as goalscorer Angel Gomes came off for Arthur Vermeeren. The Brazilian almost made an instant impact as he drove goalwards. But any momentum was quickly stemmed for OM after Ulisses Garcia received a straight red card for a high challenge on Josue Casimir, repeating the same situation that Les Olympiens found themselves in at the Stade Abbé-Deschamps last season. Another attempt from Namaso, and Rulli was once again alert to parry away the Englishman’s header.
