The party in the stands, but not on the pitch. Marseille lost heavily against Lyon (0-3) in the last match of the 35th day of Ligue 1, Sunday May 1, at the Vélodrome. Put into orbit by Castello Lukeba (55th), Moussa Dembélé (76th) and Toko Ekambi (88th), the Lyonnais won their third victory in their last four games and returned to five points from fifth and last European place (pending the result of Nice in the French Cup).
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The Vélodrome was preparing for the party, with songs, tifos, and birthday celebrations, that of the group of South Winners, 35 years old. But on the ground the supporters have rather had the right to grimace soup. The Marseillais fell from above against the successful Gones, who came to spoil the festivities. It all came down to the second half, during which OM inexplicably collapsed, conceding three goals in 35 minutes.
The men of Jorge Sampaoli had yet returned to the locker room while the score was still nil and clean, with the two best chances to their credit. But milik missed accuracy twice in front of Anthony’s goal lopes (29th, 42nd). A double opportunity that can leave regrets. Marseille retains its second place in the standings, but sees Rennes and monacoboth winners earlier in the weekendreturn to firing range.
big shot@OL who is getting back into the race for Europe!
A hot reaction? #OMOL pic.twitter.com/csmEZ2R3cH
— Ligue 1 Uber Eats (@Ligue1UberEats) May 1, 2022
Opposite, Lyon no longer had the right to make mistakes to hope to play in European competition next season. Stung to the quick, the Rhodaniens imposed themselves with the manner to go and win the 1000th victory in the history of the club in the league.
After a messy first period, Les Gones raised their level of play after returning from the locker room. Lukeba opened the scoring with a good free kick from Emerson, before Dembélé doubled the lead with a lightning counter-attack. Toko Ekambi also went there with his goal in the last minutes to seal an important victory for Lyon.
“We were keen to win this match. It’s an Olympico, it brings us closer to our goal of qualifying for a European Cup”, reacted Castello Lukeba at the microphone of Prime Video after the final whistle. Thanks to this unexpected success, the Lyonnais are not yet drawing a line under their European dream. They go back to 7th place, two lengths from Strasbourg, and five from Nice. They have three days left to try to complete their improbable comeback.