Olympique de Marseille had to react. After a cataclysmic week, marked by a cruel elimination in the Champions League on Wednesday and a poor performance against Paris FC in Ligue 1 on Saturday, the Olympians had the obligation to resume their march forward this Tuesday with the reception of Stade Rennais in the round of 16 of the Coupe de France.
Reprimanded by their most fervent supporters during a meeting Monday evening at the Commanderie, Roberto De Zerbi’s players presented themselves with determination on the pitch of the Vélodrome stadium. A desire to do good converted in just a few moments. After one minute and sixteen seconds, Amine Gouiri took advantage of an angry recovery from Timothy Weah at the feet of Quentin Merlin in the area to score from close range with his right foot and make the 60,000 Olympian spectators roar (2nd).
Overmotivated, the Phocéens could have found themselves outnumbered after a violent tackle by new recruit Ethan Nwameri on the ankle of Finnish Glen Kamara, who left injured a few minutes later. Simply warned despite Habib Beye’s protests, the young player on loan from Arsenal took advantage of Thomas Leonard’s clemency – and the absence of VAR at this stage of the competition – to stay on the pitch.
Jacquet at fault on the second goal
Dominated, the Rennais returned from the locker room even more apathetic defensively than they were on the first goal. This time, it took OM 31 seconds after the kick-off to find the fault thanks to Mason Greenwood, taking advantage of a big placement error by Jérémie Jacquet to take the ball towards the goal and finish quietly with his right foot (46th). Faced with a Breton defense with absent subscribers, the scorer then becomes a passer to allow Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to push the leather into the empty cages and close the show at the end of the match (83rd).
The great Olympian evening and the qualification for the quarter-finals do not seem to make us forget the recent results of Roberto De Zerbi’s team: Amine Gouiri, scorer and decisive passer, as well as Geoffrey Kondogbia were entitled to whistles when leaving or coming into play. Before imagining going further in the Coupe de France, it will first be necessary to make amends with its supporters, against PSG on Sunday evening in the championship.
