PSG survive Velodrome hell with 10 men

The Marseille – PSG match had everything a proper derby needs to have: a packed, sell out stadium, two great teams, a fantastic support from the home fans, unmatched in Ligue 1, torches, flairs being thrown at Neymar, high tempo, good chances, red card... everything but the goals. Olympique had a great chance to win at home against PSG who played last 30 minutes with a man down, after Hahimi was red carded, but the home team just couldn’t do it. A fantastic support from the stands didn’t rub off the players and in terms of league title, this draw was PSG’s victory. Messi and co. are now 7 points clear of second placed Lens, while Marseille is fourth, 10 points behind the Parisians.

Mauricio Pochettino was brave enough to come to Marseille with all his ‘big guns’ in the starting 11: Messi, Neymar, Mbappe and Di Maria, and PSG dominated in the first half with 4 shots on target. Two goals were actually scored in the first half, both by Olympique. First it was Peres in the 14th minute with an effective own goal, and then 7 minutes later, Milik scored on the opposite side of the pitch, but both goals were nullified due to offside. In the 26nd minute, a rare sight was seen at the Velodrome: Messi’s header! The Argentinian used Saliba’s deflection to shoot at Lopez, but home keeper made a great save. Marseille keeper Lopez was also proactive, like in the 32nd minute, when he rushed out of his goal to deal with a PSG counter. He cleared the ball just before Di Maria got there.

Second half was also exciting, and it started with Aschraf Hakimi’s straight red card in the 57th minute after a challenge on Under, as the last man in defense. Di Maria was substituted, as PSG already had enough creative players on the pitch. Marseille went a bit more offensive, and Rongier almost scored in the 65th minute, but his powerful header went just off the bar. After that, we saw a couple of half-chances for Marseille, but nothing worth commenting. A great chance for victory was obviously missed by Olympique and they are now facing a tough trip to Nice next week.

LIGUE 1 - ROUND 11

Friday

Saint-Etienne - Angers 2-2 (0-1)

/Khazri 61, Nade 90+3 - Traore 28, Fulgini 56/

Saturday

Nantes - Clermont 2-1 (1-0)

/Girotto 28, Blas 61 - Bayo 49/

Lille - Brest 1-1 (1-1)

/David 19 - Faivre 32/

Sunday

Nice - Olympique Lyon 3-2 (0-1)

/Atal 81, Delort 89 pen, Guessand 90+1 - Ekambi 35, Aouar 68/

Rennes - Strasbourg 1-0 (0-0)

/Aguerd 82/

Reims - Troyes 1-2 (1-1)

/Abdelhamid 6 - Balde 41, Chavalerin 65/

Lens - Metz 4-1 (2-1)

/Said 14,37, Ganago 83, Frankowski 90 - Preville 33/

Lorient - Bordeaux 1-1 (0-0)

/Laporte 76 - Elis 46/

Monaco - Montpellier 3-1 (2-0)

/Volland 12, Ben Yedder 17, Martins 61 - Savanier (p) 81/

Olympique Marseille - PSG 0-0