OGC Nice – Olympique de Marseille: Fireworks As Marseille Demolish Southern Rivals (1-5)

Olympique de Marseille returned briefly to the top of Ligue 1 with a victory over southern rivals OGC Nice at the Allianz Riviera before Paris Saint-Germain reclaimed top spot with a victory over Le Havre AC on Saturday night. Fireworks would light up the stadium as the Nice ultras, Populaire Sud, celebrated their 40th anniversary, but it would be Marseille who provided the fireworks on the pitch. 

Tactical analysis and match report by Nick Hartland.

Unbeaten in the league in October, OGC Nice manager Franck Haise likely believed that his side had turned a corner ahead of this month. Instead, coming into this game, Nice had lost all three of their November matches, suffering defeats to Paris Saint-Germain, SC Freiburg, and FC Metz. Haise’s position at the club is not under pressure at this moment, but the manager has cut a frustrated figure, with Nice off the pace in the race for Europe. 

Haise set his charges out in a 3-4-3 shape. Yehvann Diouf in goal, with Kojo Peprah Oppong, Juma Bah, and Antoine Mendy in defense. In midfield, Charles Vanhoutte and Salis Abdul Samed, flanked by Melvin Bard and Jonathan Clauss as wing-backs. Up front, Terem Moffi was supported by inside forwards Sofiane Diop and Mohamed-Ali Cho. 

After a slow start to the season, Olympique de Marseille have awoken and look to be the side best positioned to take advantage of sluggish PSG title defense. Roberto De Zerbi’s squad have been nipping at the heels of their bitter rivals, and a victory away to Nice would see the club go temporarily top of the table . . .