He will have shouted, replaced, celebrated, but ended up giving in. For his first on the bench of Olympique de Marseille, Gennaro Gattuso was unable to lead his men to victory against a more efficient AS Monaco (3-2). Winners of an open and intense match, the Monegasques temporarily regain the lead in Ligue 1, pending the meeting between Nice and Brest this Sunday (3 p.m.).
The game :
You shouldn’t arrive late at the Louis-II stadium this Saturday evening. Bringing together two playful teams brimming with desire, this Ligue 1 clash got off to a strong start, with the scoreboard at the princely stadium already showing a one-goal score after ten minutes. The first was scored by Iliman Ndiaye, who only waited a minute to reward Gennaro Gattuso with his first goal as coach of Olympique de Marseille. Appointed at the start of the week, the Italian technician kept his promise made at a press conference to play offensive football, like the achievement of the Senegalese international, scorer for the first time in the Marseille jersey.
At the conclusion of a one-touch play between Correa and Veretout, Ndiaye converted Aubameyang’s strong cross to open the scoring (0-1, 1st). Far from the dull face shown on the lawn of the Parc des Princes during the Classic last Sunday (4-0), OM Gattuso version, arranged in 4-3-3, took risks, pressed high and was effective , as on the second goal. Staying at the forefront following a corner, Samuel Gigot catapulted the ball into Köhn’s net, receiving a good cross from Ndiaye (1-2, 18th).
The problem for the Olympians is that Monaco has adopted the same game plan. Defeated for the first time this season by Nice last week, Adi Hütter’s men reacted quickly to Marseille’s two stabs. Deprived of Caio Henrique, Minamino and Golovin, the best attack in Ligue 1 was carried by a great Maghnes Akliouche this Saturday evening.
Double scorer (8th, 52nd), the French international hopefuls also became a passer for Folarin Balogun (2-2, 23rd). The former Reims player got his head right after his two missed penalties last week by scoring with a heavy shot from the right at the entrance to the area, Pau Lopez not blocking his near post well enough.
Once again not exempt from any reproaches on Akliouche’s second goal, the Marseille goalkeeper nevertheless kept his team alive on a cross shot from Ben Yedder, isolated to the right of the area following a counter (63rd).
Sometimes naive, the ASM defense held firm at the end of the match against the Marseille attacks, as with this breakthrough from Azzedine Ounahi into the heart of the Köhn area. Technical guarantee and true organizer of his team’s game, the Moroccan international believed he obtained a penalty for an authoritarian intervention (70th). It didn’t happen, despite a final attempt from Vitinha (90th).
The player: Maghnes Akliouche
Starting for the first time this season, the 21-year-old attacking midfielder was impressive against OM. Responsible for replacing Golovin in the role of custodian of the Monegasque game, Akliouche fulfilled his mission wonderfully. Impactful with her technical quality, solid in the physical duel against Gigot and Mbemba, the young nugget scored her second goal of the season with a sharp right strike in the open area before perfectly launching Balogun for the equalizer.
The native of Tremblay could have given his team the advantage a few moments later but Pau Lopez made a classy double save to repel his volley from point blank range then his attempt at ground level (24th). It was only a postponement: upon receiving a deflection from Balogun’s head, Akliouche scored his first double in Ligue 1 by deceiving the Olympian goalkeeper with a spontaneous left strike.
