An African gives Marseille their first win over PSG in 12 years

Since 2011, Olympique Marseille has won only twice in La Classique: in 2020 in Ligue 1, in a stadium with reduced capacity due to Covid, and in 2023 in the Coupe de France. After that, Paris Saint Germain completely took over with five straight victories, 15 goals scored and only one conceded. Before the game, coach Luis Enrique was even cheeky, claiming that he and his players like ‘to silence stadiums with our quality’. But tonight, Enrique saw Velodrome in it’s full force, with a sell out crowd singing 90 minutes non-stop and celebrating a well deserved victory: Marseille – PSG 1-0. On the night when he won the best coach award at the Ballon d’Or in Paris, the Spaniard was sitting on the bench in Marseille, overseeing his first defeat of the season and giving the number 1 place on the table to Monaco.

Due to heavy rain the Classique was moved to Monday, at the same time as Ballon d’Or and players like Fabian Ruiz, Achraf Hakimi, Vitinha, Nuno Mendes, Lucas Chevalier and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia who were nominees in various categories had to be at the game instead at the ceremony. Luis was also without some important players as Bradley Barcola, Ousmane Dembele, Joao Neves and Desire Doue were all missing due to injuries. Olympique showed no mercy and came out flying and pressing the opponent as much as possible. Roberto de Zerbi even made some surprising changes, as he left Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Facundo Medina and Angel Gomes, on the bench, giving Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Matt O'Riley the task of taking care of Paris’s strong midfield. Luis Enrique was very determined and without any emotions when he decided to buy Lucas Chevalier and sell Gigi Donnarumma, who was one of the heroes in Paris’s Champions League quest. Tonight, that decision looked wrong as it was the new keeper who made the mistake and allowed the only goal of the game and Olympique’s first victory in 12 derbies.

PSG will not be at Ballon d’Or and it’s Marseille’s fault

The game didn’t even started yet and it was already 1-0 for the home team. In the 5th minute Greenwood crossed from the right wing and keeper Lucas Chevalier made a mistake by missing the ball completely, allowing Nayef Aguerd to score a header for the lead. From that moment, PSG took over in possession with almost 80% but created only one good chance. In the 17th minute, Vintinha took a shot outside the penalty area but Geronimo Rulli was there to make the save. Minutes later Gouiri hit the bar and in the 27th minute Olympique scored the second goal which was quickly nullified due to offside. Kvaratskhelia nearly equalized after half an hour of football, but his strong shot went just centimeters from the left post.

Second half was quiet until the 58th minute, when Haikimi took a shot outside the penalty area but Rulli managed to divert it just enough for a corner kick. PSG really started to push stronger and in the 65th minute, Goncalo Ramos’ header from close range went just over the bar. But until the end the result remained the same and only Vitinha tried to test Rulli from long range. Aubameyang came in and almost scored the second in the duying mintues of the game, but in the end, only Robert De Zerbi got the red card and became ‘cherry on top’ in this La Classique. When the referee ended the game, whole stadium erupted, including the Italian and his players.

LIGUE 1 - MATCHDAY 5

Friday

Olympique Lyon - Angers 1-0 (0-0)

/Tessmann 65/

Saturday

Nantes - Rennes 2-2 (0-2)

/Mwanga 64, El Arabi 90+6 - Blas 29 pen, Lepaul 35/

Brest - Nice 4-1 (2-1)

/Ajorque 6, Del Castillo 9, Chotard 70, Labeau Lascary 76 - Moffi 30/

Lens - Lille 3-0 (2-0)

/Said 28, Thauvin 43, Fofana 52/

Sunday

Paris - Strasbourg 2-3 (0-1)

/Dicko 81, Gory 90+4 - Paez 27, Doue 78, Emegha 87/

Auxerre - Toulouse 1-0 (1-0)

/Namaso 45+2/

Le Havre - Lorient 1-1 (0-1)

/Soumare 47 - Tosin 21/

Monaco - Metz 5-2 (1-1)

/Biereth 28, Fati 46, 83, Kouao 86 (og), Ilenikhena 90+3 - Diallo 13, Hein 67 pen/

Monday

Olympique Marseille - PSG 0-1 (0-1)

/Aguerd 5/