Moreira the hero as Racing stun OM
Match Reports
In a boiling atmosphere at La Meinau, Racing Club de Strasbourg stunned Olympique de Marseille, denying the visitors a chance to go level at the top of the table with a 1-0 home win.
A lively encounter
Both sides had come into the match in fine attacking form, but Marseille were playing with a somewhat makeshift defence, with Leonardo Balerdi suspended and Bamo Meïté and Quentin Merlin both injured. Summer signing Pierre-Emile Højberg was deployed alongside Derek Cornelius centrally with Lilian Brassier shifting out to the left, while Racing’s lineup was largely unchanged from the side that played a thrilling three-all draw against LOSC Lille last weekend.
Strasbourg, never a team to shy way from playing on the front foot, had the better of the games opening exchanges, looking to put the visitors’ makeshift defence under pressure, but Højberg was sharp to clear a dangerous low cross by Habib Diarra for Emanuel Emegha. An even better chance came moments later as Dilane Bakwa fired wide after being played in by Sebastian Nanasi. It was Bakwa again who had a low shot saved by Geronimo Rulli after Marseille struggled to clear a free kick.
☝️ 𝐃𝐌𝟕☝️#RCSAOM pic.twitter.com/ZLQc2md5nt
— Racing Club de Strasbourg Alsace English (@RCSA_English) September 29, 2024
From there, the match settled somewhat, with OM struggling to establish themselves, but Strasbourg’s control of the game being limited by a failure to create any meaningful chances. OM had to wait until past the half-hour mark to even have a shot, though, with Luis Henrique’s effort tamely wide. Rulli would then be called into action again, doing well off his line to deny Emegha on the counter. But the Argentine would have little to do on Diego Moreira’s opener, the young winger firing in his first goal of the season from a tight angle just before the break.
The second half started much as the first had unfurled, with Rullí again frustrating Emegha, denying the Dutchman from a tight angle. From there, it was Marseille’s turn to put the hosts under pressure as Mason Greenwood forced a fine save from Đorđe Petrović just before the hour before Diarra fired wide. With the match still level, Roberto de Zerbi handed a debut to Adrien Rabiot, and he and his fellow substitute Neal Maupay nearly combined to level the match, denied only by a fine save by Petrović.
In the match’s final half an hour, OM continued to push for an equalizer with Mason Greenwood coming close to finding the far corner (69’), but it was but a fleeting moment, as the hosts dominated the last ten minutes and might have even rued not finding a second. As it was, Racing held on for an impressive result, moving to within a point of the European spots while OM stayed third, three points behind Paris Saint-Germain and AS Monaco.
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