OM beat Brest (2-0) on Saturday August 26 at the Stade Vélodrome during the third day of Ligue 1, in which the Marseillais temporarily occupy first place alongside Monaco. With three matches played, here are the Marseillais at the head of a nest egg of seven points and even if they were not acquired against cadors (Reims, Metz and Brest), they are a good base for a team remade from floor to ceiling in the off-season and whose identity is still very uncertain.
Deprived of the Champions League, OM and Marcelino had a full week of work before the reception of Brest, an unprecedented luxury this season. But that was not seen and if Marseille took three points, it is also because the bad luck that has accompanied them since the start of the season, this time left them alone.
The three points are of course welcome and Marcelino still has some satisfaction to draw from Saturday’s success – the rise of Renan Lodi and the activity of Jordan Veretout, for example – but the overall performance remains very mixed. There was thus only one good moment in OM’s very poor first period and it came very quickly, from the 4th minute, with the opener signed Chancel Mbemba, who took over perfectly from the head an impeccable eccentric free kick from Jordan Veretout (1-0).
What followed was terrible. Against Brestois who gained confidence over the minutes, the Marseillais left the ball a lot to the opponent and also lost it a lot, the rare times they had control of it. After some progress glimpsed in the return match against Panathinaikos (2-1) and in Metz (2-2), we thought we would find OM in the first leg in Greece (1-0 defeat), playing at a pace of veteran team and unable to create danger.
Holder for the first time since his serious injury in November, Amine Harit was particularly in difficulty and the Argentinian Joaquin Correa, who arrived in Marseille on Friday and presented before kick-off at the Vélodrome, has a place to take on the left. Opposite, the Bretons had many more chances, with Jérémy Le Douaron who put an easy header in the arms of Pau Lopez (14th), Steve Mounié who placed another slightly above (24th), or two strikes from Mahdi Camara (28th) and Le Douaron (30th).
The start of the second period was again difficult and it took several good saves from Pau Lopez, author until then of a complicated start to the season, to leave OM in front. The game finally changed shortly after the exit of Iliman Ndiaye, still not released since his arrival, and with the entry of Vitinha, who on the contrary exudes newfound confidence.
The Portuguese immediately took up space in the area and on yet another good cross from Lodi, he disrupted the Brest defense enough to allow Ismaïla Sarr to score his first Marseille goal (2-0, 65th). Vitinha again offered two golden chances to Veretout and Pierre-Eymerick Aubameyang, imprecise throughout, but the score did not move.
OM should not lose any other points after those, already annoying, left to Metz. Finally, his balance sheet, before going to Nantes on Friday and then letting the truce pass, is very correct. But the general impression is less so and this OM is still a bit perplexing.
