Marseille edge Metz to stay in podium race

Olympqiue de Marseille got back to winning ways after their defeat against Monaco last weekend with a slender win over FC Metz to keep themselves in the race for a podium finish by the end of the season. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang opened the scoring before Igor Paixao's lovely chip to double the lead just after the break. Yet Metz were competitive, with Georgi Ttsitaishvili's finish and OM's wastefulness in front of goal keeping the suspense until Junior Hamed Traoré's injury time finish sealed all three points for Les Phocéens.

After the nomination of former Orange CEO Stéphane Richard as the club's new president in the morning, focus would have to return to the on-pitch task at hand, with a must-win fixture against Ligue 1's bottom side FC Metz. In the early minutes OM dominated the ball as expected, and an error from the Metz backline sent Aubameyang one on one with Papa Sy, but the Gabon international's strike came straight at the goalkeeper. Yet Aubameyang didn't need another chance when he was slipped through on goal by Mason Greenwood after a quick counter on the transition, slipping but making enough contact to send the strike into the left corner of the net (13'). Gouiri then skied a glorious chance to make it two just minutes later, the Algerian drifting into plenty of space when Aubameyang's low cross came.

The former Arsenal man was once again in the middle of all the action when Quinten Timber provided a slick ball for Aubameyang to latch onto, he then rounded the keeper and finished but Stephanie Frappart would heed her assistant's flag for offside. Yet Metz had a huge chance just before the end of the first half when Guathier Hein's strike from the edge of the box rattled Rulli's left post as a big warning shot. Yet Habib Beye's men would quickly grab that second goal, when Mason Greenwood's deft through-ball with the outside of his foot found Igor Paixao's run and the Brazilian completed a classy chip over Sy to double OM's advantage (47').

Yet that two-goal lead would last not even a minute, when Georgi Tsitaishvili weaved through the OM defence and his low effort couldn't be saved by a Rulli who looked caught off guard (48'). From then on, it looked less like a foregone conclusion for Metz and more like a match which could swing wildly, with space that opened up for both sides. Rulli had to intervene to stop Jessy Deminguet from getting a strike on goal as the away side started building the pressure. Timber found himself in the box once again but the Dutchman blasted over the crossbar. 

With the suspense rising until injury time, the nervousness around the Vélodrome started to reappear: so many times this season have OM have conceded those late goals. There were signs, but Junior Hamed Traoré would put the result without doubt when Amine Gouiri served him a perfect ball to finish off the game in injury time and claim all three points. 
 

The Stat: Paixao power 

Marseille's Igor Paixao has been the most decisive player so far under Habib Beye, scoring three goals and providing three assists for Les Phocéens since Beye joined the club as manager. 

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