The Phocaeans dominated the capital club thanks to goals from Alexis Sanchez and Ruslan Malinovskyi.
More than eleven years of waiting. For the first time since November 2011, Marseille dominated PSG in its Vélodrome stadium, Wednesday February 8, during the round of 16 of the Coupe de France (2-1). A success that confirms the recent form of the Phocaeans and, above all, the difficult period that Paris Saint-Germain is going through six days before their round of 16 first leg of the Champions League against Bayern Munich.
Incandescent in their den, the people of Marseille knew that the opportunity to bring down the rival was good to seize as the Parisians are proving to be fragile in 2023. He was almost showered, air-conditioned when Sergio Ramos saw his goal disallowed in the 93rd minute for an offside position. In vain, this Paris did not deserve better.
An indisputable victory
The victory, offered by a powerful and sudden half-volley from Ruslan Malinovsky shortly before the hour mark (2-1, 57th), suffers no challenge as Igor Tudor’s men marched on their opponents. Only a moment of inattention, at the end of the first period, extinguished the volcano when Sergio Ramos, already him, equalized with an uncrossed header on receipt of a corner from Neymar (1-1, 45th + 2). When returning to the locker room, the specter of a new Marseille performance weighed down by its lack of efficiency loomed large.
Because, paradoxically, OM only opened the scoring on a penalty from Alexis Sanchez caused, alone, by Cengiz Under (1-0, 31st). He could and should have taken shelter much earlier without an omnipresent Gianluigi Donnarumma in front of Nuno Tavares (3rd), Cengiz Under (9th, 42nd), Ruslan Malinovsky (16th) or Jonathan Clauss (41st). Sead Kolasinac (20th) and Matteo Guendouzi (25th), shots outside the area, were not far from opening the scoring either.
PSG far from Champions League level
On paper, Paris Saint-Germain could not have dreamed of better preparation just six days before their Champions League round of 16 first leg against Bayern Munich. The intensity imposed for 90 minutes by the Marseillais was that of the great European evenings, just like the fury of their public massed in a Velodrome full as an egg.
But the limits displayed by the men of Christophe Galtier, unable to respond to adverse pressure, are worrying. Apart from the last ten minutes of the match – and a strike on the post by Neymar (40th) – Paris had all the trouble in the world to find solutions in the absence of Kylian Mbappé (hamstring injury) . For the second consecutive year, his journey ends in the round of 16.
The dangerous month of February for Paris Saint-Germain starts very badly as Bayern Munich looms in the Champions League next Tuesday, but also Monaco, Lille and above all a new trip to Marseille, on February 26, in Ligue 1. revenge already keeps all its promises and OM now know how to bring down their rival at home.