• Despite a goal conceded totally against the course of the game, the Marseillais were able to turn the situation around in two minutes thanks to goals from Under (74th) and Sanchez (76th) against Auxerre on Sunday night at the Stade Vélodrome.
  • Igor Tudor's men were able to show character and an irreproachable mentality to avoid another counter-performance at home like the draws against Strasbourg and Montpellier.
  • For the OM coach, if his players show the same state of mind until the end of the season then "nothing can stop" OM.

At the Velodrome stadium,

Five or six chances for Vitinha alone, a good ten for Olympique de Marseille, saves in shambles of Radu, the goalkeeper of AJ Auxerre, and a single strike framed for a magnificent goal of Birama Touré (32nd), totally against the course of the game. Suffice to say that the scenario of the first half of the match between OM and Auxerre (2-1) Sunday night at the Velodrome stadium let fear the worst for the Marseillais, a bit like the matches against Montpellier (1-1) and Strasbourg (2-2), dominated but not won.



It is not Jonathan Clauss who will say the opposite: "We make a great start to the match, we are dominant, conquering. We have a little waste in the last gestures but there is a lot of desire, determination ... And we take this goal that hurts our heads a little bit." The first twenty minutes of the second half did not reassure Marseille fans, who left to relive a new nightmare scenario at home.

"The mentality of this team reflects the game"

But it was without counting on their support, and a Cengiz Under who again donned the costume of the savior, as often in recent times with his three goals in the last three games. Like his teammates, the Turk did not let go of anything despite a lot of waste in his game, to finally come to deliver the whole Velodrome with a curl of the right foot (74th).

A liberating goal, and one that "restores confidence" to Jordan Veretout and his teammates to keep pushing. And that just two minutes later, Alexis Sanchez comes to "relieve" his whole team of a shot at ground level synonymous with "deserved victory, which we went for and which will count at the end of the championship", still according to the former player of AS Roma.

Long moments of doubt, finally swept away by an irreproachable mentality that ends up paying off for OM at the end of the season, at a time when Marseille see some of their competitors running out of steam, like PSG or Monaco this weekend. "Sometimes you ask yourself questions, the ball goes in front of the line, next to it. Their goalkeeper making saves. But the mentality of this team throughout the season reflects tonight's game, we didn't give up and we went for it until the end," said Jordan Veretout.

"The human value of my players is as important as their qualities"

Quickly joined by Igor Tudor, for whom these mental victories "are even more beautiful", to the point of landing at a press conference by snapping his fingers despite such a stressful scenario. "Yes I agree, I think we are in a good moment, all the games are decisive. The human value of my players is as important as their qualities. If everyone is in this state of mind, nothing can stop us."

The OM coach was able to ensure on Sunday the full commitment of his group. Like Dimitri Payet, and especially Mattéo Guendouzi, largely outclassed in recent games, who made a superb entry (69th), three minutes before Under's equaliser. And it was the French international who gifted Sanchez the winning goal with a deep laser pass. "I can only say beautiful things, it's really good the way they came back. I'm proud of them, they brought out their values, they brought quality in a match that can be key. They were able to bring calm, more solutions. I'm happy for them, and for the team," said the Croatian. A necessity before going to face the Lensois in a crucial match for the 2nd place of Ligue 1, next Saturday (21 hours).

  • Football
  • Sport
  • Ligue 1
  • Olympique de Marseille (OM)
  • AJ Auxerre
  • Igor Tudor