Marseille back to second in five-goal thriller

It was a Vélodrome which knew the necessity of a result against Toulouse: Marseille needed to get back to winning ways against Toulouse if they wanted to make good on their aspirations of securing a Champions League spot. The pressure seemed to be relieved early on when Adrien Rabiot's wicked cross was finished into the back of the Toulouse net by Les Violet's own defender Gabriel Suazo with a stunning finish into his own net (20').

Whilst Les Olympiens started brightly, Toulouse would manage to calm down the volcanic atmosphere at the Velodrome and take advantage of OM's lack of killer edge. After a first real prolonged period of possession. Vincent Sierro would provide a superb chipped ball for Frank Magri to simply rise high and nod past Rulli to equalise for Les Violets, chilling the atmosphere (28') and heaping the pressure onto the second period for Les Olympiens.

But some teams and clubs seem to thrive the most under pressure, and that was certainly the case for Marseille this evening. After struggling to have an impact on the game in the first period, Mason Greenwood seemingly popped up out of nowhere with a stunning strike from the edge of the box to put Les Marseillais back into the lead (56').

Rabiot and greenwood bring the flair

After one stunner, then quickly came another as OM managed to go two goals in front thanks to a stunning volley from the centre of the box by Adrien Rabiot, who connected perfectly with a deft chip from Mason Greenwood (73'). Les Olympiens looked free from the shackles of their bad form going into the game, and proceeded to confidently start to pass the ball around in the way that we know De Zerbi teams do. OM then thought they had another when Jonathan Rowe connected with a fine diving header, which was then ruled out by VAR for offside.

But Toulouse wouldn't go down that easily. Captain Vincent Sierro would add to his assist with a fine header from a floated freekick in the box - as the OM defence once again fell asleep (75'). But OM would see out the remaining 15 minutes of the game to seal a vital win at the Vélodrome which puts Les Olympiens back into second place, two points ahead of Monaco before their showdown at the Stade Louis II next weekend.

THE STAT: Fifty Two

Olympique de Marseille have picked up more points in 28 Ligue 1 matches this season than in the whole previous season - 50 points in 34 matches. 
 

Match reactions: 

Carles Martinez Novell: "Sometimes you try and you don't win. The team kept pushing and believing and we were close to this Marseille team. That's football. I need to find solutions to win games, but if we keep playing with this commitment then we will win." 

Roberto De Zerbi: "I am satisfied when the team gives everything. I saw some big players - big men. I think that finally we've played a big match. It was difficult that a Toulouse team came here with nothing to lose." 

"Yes, it was what I wanted this week. There is nothing else than football in my life, what I wanted to see was a manner of playing that was legitimate, and that the players gave 100% and that was all that counted."

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