Coupe

A cold Stade Vélodrome can be the backdrop for an all-Ligue 1 Coupe de France Spherical of 32 conflict the place two sides chasing Champions League soccer would go face to face early on in France’s historic cup competitors. “You need to beat the large groups to win the Cup,” mentioned Roberto De Zerbi in his pre-match press convention, and after beating Saint-Étienne within the earlier spherical, a conflict in opposition to Lille was an excellent litmus take a look at for each facet’s capabilities going into the second half of the season. OM needed to break a curse to get via to the following spherical: Les Olympiens have by no means certified in a Coupe de France match wherein referee Clément Turpin has overseen.

With two very robust lineups, either side had been determined to maintain their Coupe de France run going. The attacking intent was there from the very begin. Rabiot’s pullback to Greenwood was very good however the Englishman couldn’t discover his stability and actually pay money for the ball within the six-yard field as Les Dogues cleared their traces. A excessive tempo starting of the match set the tone straight away, either side took their turns to get at one another on the ball. It was a mistake which gave OM their second massive probability of the sport as Neal Maupay nicked the ball off the Lillois defence and dragged a low cross throughout the six-yard field however Gudmundsson intervened within the nick of time with a sliding problem. Because the half would put on on, OM customary additional possibilities to open the scoring. Adrien Rabiot even had the ball within the internet after Neal Maupay performed him one on one with Mannone, but it surely was dominated out after Turpin adjudged Maupay to have dealt with the ball.

Les Dogues had been extra pragmatic of their method however they nonetheless carved out a number of possibilities with Jonathan David and Rémy Cabella trying a handful for the OM defence. The latter had a strike on the right track which didn’t take a look at OM’s Dutch keeper Jeffrey De Lange. Makau would blast over the bar after a intelligent little bit of play by Bakker to feed him on the sting of the field. A Lille nook would then be cleared completely to Mason Greenwood who confirmed some gorgeous tempo to bear down on objective one on one, however his tame strike was parried away simply by Mannone. OM had the ball at the back of the online as soon as extra, this time Greenwood’s chipped try was bundled in by Maupay but it surely bounced off a Lille defender and hit his arm on the way in which in. The hosts felt laborious performed by to not have a objective by the half-time whistle. But a slip of focus and Lille would have the ball at the back of the online through Mitchel Bakker, after a mistake from the OM defence. But Turpin would rule the objective out for… a handball, the third such offense of the sport.

Les Dogues open the scoring, earlier than late late drama on the Vélodrome

The away facet then managed to lastly open the scoring on the Vélodrome. David broke down the proper facet on the counter assault and pulled again a pinpoint low cross to Hakon Haraldsson who completed simply first-time from shut vary (68). Les Olympiens had been now chasing the sport at residence, and De Zerbi made the primary roll of the cube by bringing on Bilal Nadir, Jonathan Rowe, and Ulisses Garcia off the bench. In damage time, Greenwood got here with the closest strike of the sport, reducing inside and thrashing the crossbar with a robust strike after a cleverly-played fast nook routine. Issues appeared decidedly determined for De Zerbi’s facet, however then Henrique popped up with a second of magic. The Brazilian took down the ball on the proper facet of the field, reduce inside and let rip a robust strike to degree the proceedings on the very demise.

As per the Coupe de France guidelines, the sport went straight to a penalty shootout between the 2 sides. Greenwood opened efficiently, earlier than Bakker equally adopted up with a stable strike. Solely minutes after Henrique felt the pure elation of placing his facet degree, he would really feel the despair of lacking his spot-kick. Lille then punished OM accordingly, scoring all 4 of their penalties, earlier than Jonathan Rowe put the nail within the coffin for Les Olympiens by lacking his spot-kick and handing Lille qualification to the spherical of 16. One other yr, one other early Cup exit for Les Olympiens.

OLYMPIQUE DE MARSEILLE PLAYER RATINGS

Jeffrey De Lange – 6

Amir Murillo – 5

Leonardo Balerdi – 6

Derek Cornelius – 5

Quentin Merlin – 5

Pierre-Emile Højbjerg – 6

Adrien Rabiot – 6

Valentin Rongier – 5

Mason Greenwood –  5

Neal Maupay – 6

Luis Henrique – 7

LILLE OSC PLAYER RATINGS

Vitor Mannone – 6

Bafodé Diakité – 6

Alexsandro – 5

Thomas Meunier – 5

Mitchell Bakkar – 6

Benjamin André – 5

N’Gal’ayal Mukau – 6

Gabriel Gudmundsson – 5

Hákon Arnar Haraldsson – 6

Rémy Cabella – 6

Jonathan David – 5

GFFN | George Boxall