In the advanced match of the 16th day of D1, Olympique Marseille created the sensation by winning 2-0 on his lawn against PSG. A logical victory in a match where OM has been able to take advantage of the many hesitations of the Parisian defense.

It was a match that looked complicated for Paris, we felt it. First because just days before the first leg of the Champions League against Bayern Munich, PSG was short of breath. We had seen him face Juvisy, and Marseille announced himself as an equally tough opponent.

Solid fourth, the Olympians have shown that they can now compete with the best teams in the championship. They had shook Montpellier in the Cup, before winning against Juvisy (2-1) and Paris had already had all the trouble in the world to win in the first leg (1-0). At the time, Marseille was in trouble at the bottom of the rankings, Christophe Parra's team now has greater confidence.

The temptation of the turn-over

Patrice Lair wanted to rotate his staff. At kick-off, this results in the presence of Cristiane and Ashley Lawrence on the bench, while Eve Perisset was not present in the Parisian group. On the other hand, Vero Boquete was back as well as Katarzyna Kiedrzynek in the goals of PSG.

On the side of Marseille, Leonie Multari was absent in central defense, for a hand injury. She was replaced for this match by Maêlle Lakrar, lined up alongside Kelly Gadéa. In attack, it's Viviane Asseyi who started in peak with Cindy Caputo aligned left side. Beyond the positioning, the Marseille team proves to be a real collective force from the beginning of the meeting.

An organization that disrupts the Paris team, with many difficulties to find spaces, or combine on the sides. In a formation in 3-5-2, Paris goes back a lot from behind to prepare for his attacks, but then struggle to find the attackers, Marie-Laure Delie and Natasa Andonova. A scheme of play that makes Paris hold the ball, but can not use it to worry the defense Marseille.

Make the spaces disappear

In the first quarter of an hour no shot on both sides, despite a combination free kick near the Parisian area for OM, but that does not lead to a shot on goal. Passed the first quarter of an hour, Paris is still more pressing, forcing Marseille to play lower, a team block that cuts at times in its last thirty meters (including the attackers) to avoid taking the water.

Nevertheless, OM are the first team to be dangerous. Each set kick is an opportunity to trace the Olympian block. In the 29th minute, a long free kick from the midfield benefits an opportunistic Viviane Asseyi in the middle of a Parisian defense that gets tangled brushes. The half-volley of the Olympian striker finally passes close to the right post of Kiedrzynek and Paris will be satisfied with a fright.

In the last fifteen minutes of the first act, the game opens and it benefits first in Paris. It is easier to find Marie-Laure Delie and Sabrina Delannoy manages to better combine with Shirley Cruz right side. In a few minutes, Paris knocked several times at the door with notably the intervention of Pauline Peyraud-Magnin against Perle Morroni well served by Grace Geyoro in the depth (40th). It is also this shot by Marie-Laure Delie who passes to the left of Marseille goal after a center Delannoy and a surrender of Andonova in the surface (43).

A calculated risk-taking?

At halftime, Marseille can be satisfied with a first period when Paris was defeated, despite a relative control of the ball. The three-way defense of Paris, with Laura Georges, Grace Geyoro and Irene Paredes allows to escape the pressing pressure by turning the ball in the back. Yet Paris can it be content to wait for an error or that fatigue disrupts the machine side Marseille?

For Patrice Lair, this option is not possible. It is in this spirit that he launches Cristiane and Ashley Lawrence as soon as the locker room returns, after having sent them to warm up in the middle of the first period. At the resumption, ends the defense to three. We play with two defenders in defense (Georges / Paredes) and Grace Geyoro positioned higher. The two entrants take the place respectively of Natasa Andonova and Perle Morroni.

Densify the midfield, a choice that can be justified when Marseille evolves with three axial environments with Caroline Pizzala, Nora Coton-Pelagie and Sara Yuceil. In the defensive position, Marseille evolves with a line of five, the three circles and the two off-center attackers who cover the corridors and climbs of the Parisian side.

In the first quarter of an hour, Paris manages to find offsets and free the right lane for the climbs Sabrina Delannoy. On several occasions, she finds herself in a center position near the Olympian defense, but without finding a team-mate in the box. In the 52nd minute, Shirley Cruz hit the goal on the edge of the area but the frame is once again hidden for the players of the capital.

Paris trembles, Marseille flies away

Spaces, there are also on the other side of the field. Some Marseille against high recoveries but each time, it lacks support to turn these balls into real opportunities goals. Long runs that are difficult to repeat and which, for the moment, preserve Paris from a bad surprise.

But things will change in the 64th minute. Following a Parisian foul in midfield, a free-kick is played by Olympiennes. The long balloon Nora Coton-Pelagie reaches the edge of the surface where Irène Paredes and Laura Georges hesitate to release, which benefits Sara Yuceil catapult the ball at the bottom of the nets, with a strike flush with the right post 1 -0.

Marseille take the advantage against a Parisian team that takes the water from behind, in a collective where the defense had been one of the forces of PSG in the first half of the season. Paris pushes, but the few kicks set in the opposing camp are not enough to create the danger in front of goal Pauline Peyraud-Magnin. On the contrary, the wandering defenses of Paris will count double on this match. At the start of the last quarter of an hour, Irene Paredes finds herself in trouble on a deep ball and foul on Viviane Asseyi near the Paris area.

Yellow card for Paredes but above all a free kick ideally placed 20 yards from the goal by Kiedrzynek and managed by Sandrine Bretigny, who scored for Charlotte Lozé a few minutes earlier. Slightly eccentric on the right side, his shot is lodged on the left of the Paris goal near the skylight, and if the Parisian goalkeeper touches the ball, it can not prevent it from going to the bottom (75) 2-0.

A feat that highlights OM's progress this season

Explosion of joy Marseille side, Sandrine Bretigny in the lead, who will also receive a yellow card for removing his jersey during his celebration of the goal. A detail, because Marseille holds its feat. Stunned, Paris was once again trapped by his defensive feverishness. In the 83rd minute, Sabrina Delannoy stumbles on Pauline Peyraud-Magnin who diverts his free-kick to a corner. But the important thing is that on the action that led to the free-kick, Paris saw Cristiane come out, touched on a contact with Viviane Asseyi. Paris finishes at ten, and may have to do without the Brazilian striker for the quarter-final Champions League against Bayern.

Lawrence, Formiga, at the end of the match the few Parisian attempts flee the frame or collide with a wall in the Marseille area. At the final whistle, Paris can only see the damage, and Marseille to exult after a real feat, celebrated by the few hundred spectators present at Roger-Lebert stadium.

After Juvisy, Paris falls to Marseille. A result that means that Paris could see Montpellier back in the race for Europe, and put the players of the capital in the obligation to win the Parc OL to ensure their qualification. OM's side, the season of the promoted Marseilles takes more and more volume with henceforth a victory of prestige which adds to the very good results of the OM for a few months.

Photo: OM.net