Marseille got scared. Wide dominating but not efficient enough in the first leg, the Phocaeans had only a goal lead when Artur Soares Dias kicked off on Thursday March 17. And the scenario of the first leg was repeated with in the end, the same score and a victory for Marseille two goals to one on the occasion of the round of 16 second leg of the Europa League conference.
But this time, it was not the Marseillais who opened the scoring. And yet Cédric Bakambu, symbol of Olympian inefficiency, had the opportunities but came up against Heinz Lindner (26th and 61st). Amine Harit, left alone in depth and mowed down from behind by Wouter Burger, missed the opportunity to do himself justice from the penalty spot, once again stopped by the Basel goalkeeper.
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It was Dan Ndoye who unlocked the goal counter of the evening, bringing Basel back into the race for qualification (62nd). Mandanda, left alone against the Swiss striker, could not intervene this time as he had done before (14th, 20th and 56th). An achievement synonymous with provisional extension between the two teams since the abandonment of the away goal rule.
But the Marseillais showed composure and did not seem to panic. On the contrary, they then put their foot back on the ball and pushed to finally break the lock. Cengiz Ünder, already a scorer in Brest on Sunday, turned into a savior (74th) before Valentin Rongier came to seal the score at the end of the match (90 + 2nd).
11 – Cengiz Ünder has scored 11 goals for Marseille in 2021/22 in all competitions, as many as in his 3 previous seasons combined (6 in 2018/19 and 3 in 2019/20 with Roma, 2 with Leicester in 2020/21). Cap. #FCBOM pic.twitter.com/5mfOkwfKmz
— OptaJean (@OptaJean) March 17, 2022
A snatch victory which recalls the difficulties of the teammates of Dimitri Payet, absent Thursday, to be effective in European competitions this season. This is what cost them their place in the Europa League during the group stage. The best had been observed in the play-offs against Qarabaq with six goals scored in two games, but the double confrontation against Basel raised questions.
Thursday, the Olympians entered the Swiss area 28 times and struck 14 times on goal for only two goals. In total, Jorge Sampaoli’s players have shot 34 times in two games against Basel for only four goals. An inefficiency that is felt in the game. Marseille was far superior to Basel, but was scared. In the quarter-finals, you will certainly have to know how to be more killer to hope to reach the last four.