Olympique Lyonnais – Olympique Marseille: Les Gones maintain pressure on floundering rivals (1-0)

Last time Olympique de Marseille visited Olympique Lyonnais, adversity would be the fuel behind a rousing victory after Leonardo Balerdi was sent off within five minutes. It would be déjà vu as Les Phocéens fell to ten men in the first half, but this time there would be no rescue act. Lyon huffed and puffed and in the 87th minute found a deserved Choc des Olympiques winner. 

Tactical analysis and match report by Nick Hartland.

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Olympique Lyonnais survived the summer, escaping administrative relegation to Ligue 2. A situation which should be celebrated, even if the club will feel the effects of John Textor’s presidency long into Michele Kang’s new austere stewardship. If there was one thing Textor did right, it was to appoint Paulo Fonseca. The Portuguese head coach has kept high standards despite a talent drain. And they entered this clash against their arch-rivals with two wins out of two, and no goals conceded. 

Last weekend, Olympique de Marseille beat Paris FC 5-2, delivering a brief reprieve from the chaos that still swirls around the club following their opening day defeat to Stade Rennais and the subsequent locker room fight between Adrien Rabiot and Jonathan Rowe. Despite the scoreline, they again failed to convince. Roberto De Zerbi’s system looked exploitable in the opening two matches, and levels needed to be raised if they were to come away from this Olympico with more than their pride intact. 

On paper, Fonseca lined his side up in a 4-2-3-1. Rémy Descamps kept his place in goal over summer signing Dominik Greif. In defence, Abner Vinícius, Moussa Niakhaté, Clinton Mata, and Ainsley Maitland-Niles. Former Liverpool man Tyler Morton sat alongside Tanner Tessamn in the double pivot. Ahead of them, Malick Fofana on the left, Khalis Merah in the middle, and Adam Karabec on the right. Up front, Corentin Tolisso played as the nominal number nine in lieu of Georges Mikautadze. 

De Zerbi kept with a 4-2-3-1. Gerónimo Rulli in goal, with a defence of Timothy Weah, CJ Egan-Riley, Leonardo Balerdi, and Michael Murillo. In midfield, Angel Gomes and Pierre-Emile Højbjerg. Bilal Nadir took Rabiot’s spot as the number 10, and was flanked by new signing Hamed Traorè on the left and Mason Greenwood on the right. After scoring twice against Paris, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang kept his place over Amine Gouiri as the striker. 

Déjà Rouge for Marseille

This was a match that was as much defined by those who were absent as those who were present. Marseille’s decision to ostracise Rabiot (who now looks to be on the verge of a move to AC Milan) has left them without one of last season’s key players, while Lyon’s financial issues have forced them into agreeing to sell Mikautadze to Villarreal on the eve of the match as they tried to raise €40 million in sales before the end of the window. 

Lyon responded to their situation by utilising a strikerless formation, Tolisso tucked in alongside Merah as two number 10s, while Fofana and Karabec kept the width. This created an overload in midfield, with Lyon having four players to Marseille’s double pivot. The man advantage meant that Les Gones could attack through the centre, dragging the midfield out of position and creating space for the wide men to attack a high line no longer shielded by the double pivot. 

A scenario which Lyon looked to exploit, and one that led to Marseille going down to ten men in the 29th minute. Murillo was dragged out of position to help cover the midfield, Fofana attacked where the right-back had been, Egan-Riley scrambled to defend and took out the winger, earning a straight red for denying a goal-scoring opportunity. 

Marseille responded by taking off Nadir and bringing on Derek Cornelius and then dropping deep, ceding control of the ball to Lyon. However, this is where the absence of Mikautadze was felt for the hosts. Lyon were now able to camp outside of Marseille’s box, break with speed, and deliver a ball into the six-yard space, but there was no one there to get on the end of those opportunities. They were left to rely on the tricky feet of Fofana to try and carve out chances. 

13th minute: Lyon create a 4v2 overload in midfield. Balerdi spots the mismatch and is dragged out of position to help reinforce the midfield structure, which opens up space for Vinícius to attack behind the high line. 

Down to ten men; a blessing in disguise? 

At half-time, De Zerbi took off Greenwood and brought on Ulisses Garcia, with the team shifting into a back five. The aim was obvious: to frustrate Lyon by sitting deep, inviting them to overcommit in search of the goal, and then to try and hit on the counter and win the match with a sucker punch. A plan that was given an early gift when Lyon’s most dangerous-looking player, Fofana, was forced off in the 53rd minute due to injury. 

Fullback Nicolás Tagliafico came on in his place with Vinícius taking up a more advanced position, in an indictment of the options available to Fonseca and the general state that Lyon find themselves in following three bruising years of financial mismanagement under Textor. The match slowed, with Marseille working hard to crowd out space within their box and keep Lyon’s options limited. 

Marseille’s plan began to show signs of promise around the hour mark when Lyon began to throw players forward, often only leaving three to defend. Marseille were able to carve out a couple of dangerous opportunities in transition, with Descamps forced into making vital saves to spare Lyon’s blushes. However, ultimately, the visitors lacked the cutting edge to make these rare chances count. 

It was somewhat a blessing in disguise for Marseille that they had been forced into a man disadvantage. Worryingly for De Zerbi, his side looked at their most consistent when his plans were disrupted and he was forced to adapt. And for the first time this season, they were unable to play a self-destructive high line that had invited pressure across their opening two games, and finally looked defensively sound. 

If you could sum up Marseille’s night in one image. They created next to nothing before the red card; eventually, their plan managed to generate a brief period where they crafted a couple of opportunities. 

Lyon leave it late to collect all three points

As the match neared the final whistle, Marseille looked increasingly satisfied with a hard-fought point. The dark arts began to make an appearance, as Les Phocéens frequently went to ground and tried to break up the flow of the game, wasting valuable moments on the clock. There was a frustrated edge to the match, and a feeling that all it would take was for either team to make one mistake, and the game would be lost or won. 

The mistake would fall to Marseille as a moment of sloppy defending unravelled their most consistent defensive performance this season. Lyon were able to create space down the wings when Garcia pressed Karabec. Gomes was late to spot the overlapping run from Morton, who received the ball and then let it fly into the mixer. The ball bobbled about, dragging Les Phocéens out of shape, before falling to Pavel Šulc. The substitute fired a scrappy shot, which Balerdi attempted to scramble clear, but could only force over the line. It was ugly. It was late. And it was the winner. 

87th minute: Lyon quickly switch the play from the left wing to the right. Garcia responds by closing down Karabec. Gomes holds his position rather than dropping deep to restore the back five, allowing Morton to bomb forward. Marseille switch off and Lyon are rewarded. 

Takeaways

Fonseca’s men go into the international break with three wins out of three and no goals conceded. They sit second in the table, level on points with Paris Saint-Germain, who are top on goal difference alone. It’s been a bright start to the season, but this game revealed some worrying signs ahead. Mikautadze had to be sold, but the fallout of his sale will be hard to survive unless they act swiftly. 

Another game, another worrying performance. De Zerbi’s Marseille were meant to be the best of the rest, but they appear to have regressed from last season. This is the second time in three games that the former Brighton manager has been outthought by his opposite number. He looks frustrated, and his ideas are being too easily unpicked. Change needs to come quickly, otherwise he could find himself victim to Marseille’s notorious hot seat.