Two headers from Richarlison in the space of five minutes, while Olympique de Marseille continued to hold on, will therefore have got the better of the hopes of the Marseille club. For their return to the Champions League, Wednesday September 7, OM cracked at the end of the match on the lawn of Tottenham (0-2), on the occasion of the first day of the group stage of the C1. A frustrating outcome, especially since the Spurs will have framed only two shots and that the Marseillais had achieved a very interesting first period.
But this match will have experienced a turning point, determining as it has changed the face of this poster. While OM had imposed their mark during the first 45 minutes, Chancel Mbemba was expelled as soon as he returned from the locker room (47th), for a foul on Heung-min Son who appeared alone against Pau Lopez. A reduction to ten against eleven obviously detrimental for the players of Igor Tudor, therefore condemned to turn their backs against a much more experienced Tottenham team in C1 and finalist of the 2019 edition.
40 – Marseille have suffered their 40th defeat in the Champions League (in 74 matches), losing 15 times in their last 16 meetings in the competition. Manhandled. #TOTOM pic.twitter.com/NUaNR0tUi0
— OptaJean (@OptaJean) September 7, 2022
This experience differential – 47 C1 matches for the OM players at the start of the match, 283 for those of the Spurs – was not, however, obvious in the first period. At the height of the challenge, the Marseillais were aggressive in recovering the ball and have long hampered a team which aims for the top of the table in the Premier League. He will have finally missed the finish in the last thirty opposing meters, and surely Alexis Sanchez, suspended Wednesday evening.
Luis Suarez, the Marseille striker in the evening, fought, but his first in C1 will have been timid. OM were unable to convert their domination into danger in front of the goals of Hugo Lloris. The French goalkeeper was vigilant on one of Marseille’s only actions, the long shot from Mattéo Guendouzi at the end of the first period (45th + 1). On its only air hole in these first 45 minutes, Marseille conceded an opportunity on a counter-attack, but Harry Kane did not find the frame (41st).
The expulsion of Mbemba, yet so brilliant in the first act alongside his defense acolytes Samuel Gigot and Éric Bailly, therefore changed everything. The match suddenly became much more complicated for OM, who still managed to hold out for around twenty minutes before seeing Spurs come dangerously close to their goals. The first salvo thus came from Dejan Kulusevski, blocked in extremis by Bailly and Pau Lopez (64th).
Tottenham only needed two shots on target, the two headers from Richarlison (76th, 81st) on which the Brazilian striker was far too alone, to win. Before the opener, Amine Harit had the opportunity to create the feat for OM, but he missed one or two sizes in his crampons to push the ball into the back of the net (74th).
The Marseille club, which remained on three rank victories in Ligue 1, therefore leaves London with regrets. Since 2012, OM have now suffered fifteen defeats in their last sixteen Champions League matches. A terrible series, which the Marseillais will want to stop next week, when they host Eintracht Frankfurt, beaten by Sporting Portugal (0-3) in the other Group D match. All in a Velodrome stadium certainly proud of his team’s performance tonight and ready to return to the C1 for the first time in nine years.