Marseille overthrow Shakhtar and qualify for the round of 16 for Jean-Louis Gasset’s first

Olympique de Marseille are qualified for the round of 16 of the Europa League after their victory against Shakhtar Donetsk (3-1). The Marseille club is the last French team entered in the competition.

After the eliminations of Lens, Rennes and Toulouse, Marseille was under pressure on Thursday February 22. The Marseille club held its place against Shakhtar Donetsk (3-1) and will be present in the round of 16 of the Europa League. For his first on the Olympian bench, Jean-Louis Gasset succeeded in his bet. The returns of a three-way defense and Geoffrey Kondogbia alongside Azzedine Ounahi in midfield have borne fruit.

However, everything did not start very well for OM on Thursday evening. After only 50 seconds, the Ukrainians were already attacking the Marseille goal, before a penalty conceded a few minutes later by Jonathan Clauss and converted by Georgiy Sudakov (0-1, 12th). But the Olympians quickly got their heads back on track in the wake of an inspired Amine Harit, passer for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s equalizer (1-1, 23rd).

Ismaïla Sarr, the X factor off the bench

The Gabonese, very active on the front of the Marseille attack, scored his 31st goal in the Europa League, becoming the top scorer in the history of the competition ahead of Radamel Falcao. The goal awakened the fervor of the Stade Vélodrome and the enthusiasm of the Marseillais, who chained opportunities against Dmytro Riznyk’s goal. Manhandled in the midfield by the rise of Geoffrey Kondogbia, Shakhtar increased the number of ball losses, and neither Amine Harit nor Faris Moumbagna managed to adjust the sights to put OM in the lead on the scoreboard at the break.

Ultimately, it was the coaching of Jean-Louis Gasset that made the difference for OM. Barely coming into play, the Senegalese Ismaïla Sarr undermined the Ukrainian defense with his speed, pushing Yaroslav Rakistkiy to make a mistake with his first ball. The former Messin finally took advantage of a lucky deflection from Aubameyang to give Marseille the advantage (2-1, 74th), before Kondogbia completed the success following a free kick poorly repelled by the defense from Donetsk (3-1, 81st). Helpless, Danylo Sikane’s teammates did not get up, despite a last opportunity from Brazilian winger Newerton, who returned during the match.

Unlike his three predecessors, Jean-Louis Gasset started with a victory on the Marseille bench. The Phocaeans will be the only French representatives in the round of 16 of the Europa League. They will know the identity of their opponent on Friday at noon, during the draw. The eight candidates are: West Ham, Brighton, Rangers, Atalanta, Liverpool, Villarreal, Slavia Prague and Bayer Leverkusen.