Recap: Nice dent OM's top four hopes with late draw
Thanks to a late penalty by in-form Elye Wahi, OGC Nice scraped a one-all draw away to Olympique de Marseille, denting the hosts' Champions League hopes.
Dominance unrewarded
The match, normally an important derby on the calendar for both sides, started with some surprises. Namely, for Habib Beye's hosts, leading Mason Greenwood was on bench, a shock in light of the manager having none of Igor Paixão, Nayef Aguerd, Geoffrey Konodogbia or Amine Gouiri available either. With Facundo Medina back in after expressing frustrations with the team's situation in the week, l'OM lined up with a 3-3-3-1. For Nice, there were absences as well, including Tom Louchet, Dante, and Ali Abdi being out but it was otherwise a strong eleven for Claude Puel off the back of the visitors' Coupe de France semifinal win against Strasbourg in the week.
Marseille dominated early possession, with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang sometimes playing in a withdrawn role and allowing the midfielders to run beyond him. On five minutes, this nearly paid off as Arthur Vermeeren had a powerful header from Timothy Weah's cross but it was met by a good save from Yehvann Diouf at his near post. Nice barely were able to get the ball out of their half, and Marseille came close again on 28 minutes. On a free kick, Leonardo Balerdi's header was saved by Diouf, before six minutes later, Pierre-Emile Højberg had a brilliant chance with the goal gaping, only to miss linking up with a teammate. For all of the hosts' dominance in the first 45 minutes, Nice held firm for the match to reach the break scoreless.
ELYE WAHI WITH A PANENKA AGAINST HIS FORMER CLUB MARSEILLE! 🇨🇮🥶 pic.twitter.com/WcgD81YslJ
— Ligue 1 English (@Ligue1_ENG) April 26, 2026
Højberg makes amends, Wahi makes OM pay
Marseille were invigorated after the break, and just four minutes into the half, Aubameyang headed wide of the post from Weah's cross, two minutes before Balerdi headed over from close range at a corner. Nice would have their chances as well, though, showing their danger on the counter. Twice within two minutes, Geronimo Rullí was forced into saves, first stopping a low shot from Elye Wahi on the counter (56') before being sharp off his line to close down Mohammed Ali-Cho (57').
Finally, midway through the half, Marseille's pressure finally told, with Højberg atoning for his earlier profligacy with a fine header from Tochukwu Nnadi's teasing cross. Three minutes later, Rulli kept the match level with a stunning reflex save from Wahi before nearly costing his side, with Khaïl Boudache heading wide at the back post unmarked. Two minutes from time, though, Nice were level.
After Jonathan Clauss was brought down by Tadjidine Mmadi (88'), Wahi converted the penalty with an audacious panenka. Marseille thought they had a penalty of their ownin the final of what was seven minutes of added time in the second half, but the referee correctly waved it off, despite the hosts' protests, leaving l'OM on 53 points, four points off the top four and only two ahead of Monaco in seventh. As for Nice, their mini-resurgence continues as their unbeaten run in all competitions now has reached four matches, and they've officially avoided automatic relegation.
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