Before the match, Thursday, November 4, Jorge Sampaoli called the match against Lazio Rome a “vital”. Good news for the Argentinian: at the final whistle, his OM is not yet dead in this Europa League, vintage 2021, thanks to the late equalizer of Dimitri Payet (2-2, 82nd).
But the Marseillais are not at their best either. By conceding a fourth draw in a row in C3 against Lazio (2-2), they continue to advance at a very small trot. In view of the scenario of the evening, and even if they dominated the debates, the Phocéens will be satisfied, but that is not enough. It will be necessary to refuel during the last two meetings to see the round of 16.
At the kickoff, however, all the ingredients were there for us to attend a great European evening as Marseille likes them. A clue ? The crowd at the Orange-Vélodrome, filled with no less than 60,000 supporters despite the closed door of the north turn due to the incidents facing Galatasaray, where the ultras had been replaced by 10,000 children invited for the occasion. In a tense, volcanic atmosphere, the Marseillais had a mission: to beat solid Lazio Rome. A message received on the ground by the men of Sampaoli, who quickly rose to this level, quickly taking control of the game.
Better, they succeeded in what they had not been able to do in Rome two weeks ago: to score. After a good free kick from Payet (11th), and a pricked head out of the tip of the gloves by Strakosha (25th), it is on a penalty obtained and transformed by a leaping Milik that OM logically opened the scoring at the half hour of play.
Masters of the ball, we thought the Marseillais launched. It was without counting a twist of fate just before the break. Or rather a billiard shot from a corner, when a shot from Luiz Felipe ricocheted on Saliba before ending up in the feet of Felipe Anderson, alone against goal (45th, 1-1). Nothing to silence the Velodrome, who redoubled their efforts, however.
Problem: when they got back from the locker room, OM got their job done by a man who has nevertheless been used to simplifying everything since the start of the season. By missing his control on an innocuous pass back, William Saliba opened the way to the goal for Ciro Immobile, who does not need more (1-2, 48th).
Against the course of the game, OM found themselves led, their heads under water. With a touch of success, the Laziale could even have folded the case before play time by Milinkovic-Savic (49th), Cataldi (55th) or Immobile (59th). But that was before the late awakening of the Marseilles fury. Because apart from a cross from Ünder on the post, OM waited for the 81st to get back into the game, while the Vélodrome was growling more and more on its troops.
160 – Ciro Immobile scored his 160th goal for Lazio in all competitions, overtaking Silvio Piola (159) and becoming the club’s top scorer in history. Eagle. #OMLazio pic.twitter.com/NuAJITs7u7
– OptaJean (@OptaJean) November 4, 2021
As a good captain, it was Dimitri Payet who emerged from a very narrow angle to equalize after a confused action (2-2, 82nd). The start of a complete end of the match fada, where the Marseillais fired on everything, carried by an incandescent audience. The wicks lit by Harit (87th) and Milik (91st) did not hit the mark, while Dimitri Payet saw his distant firecracker pushed back by the bar (89th).
Finally, and as always since the start of this Europa League campaign, the Marseillais left the lawn with a bitter taste in the mouth: that of the frustration of sharing points (4 draws and therefore 4 pts in as many days). If once again the Olympians undoubtedly deserved better, they will especially have to do more during the next two meetings to hope to continue their European adventure.