Marseille miraculously survive against Lille

A goal from Valére Germain in the final leg of the match gave Olympique de Marseille de Villas-Boas a more than satisfactory point against Lille. The Marseille team was far inferior to its rival, who forgave several clear occasions in the second half that could sentence the game. After having beaten PSG in the Parc des Princes, OM has only added one point out of the last six in play.

Neither Marseille nor Lille got off to a fast-paced start. What's more, there was no shot on goal for the first 20 minutes. Those of Galtier took the initiative of the meeting, but without bothering Mandanda and only generating arrivals through the breaking unchecks of Burak Yilmaz. The Turk, however, was whistled three offside in the first minutes that could have been very clear chances of having endured next to the defensive line of Olympique de Marseille.

Marseille continues to be a team with many doubts as far as the game is concerned. He won by the minimum last week in the Park of the Princes and from then on came relaxation. The Marseille team had many complications to reach the rival goal, something that could already be seen in the defeat during the week against Saint-Étienne. Without going further, his first shot came in the 27th minute, in a timid shot from Payet on the edge of the area that went wide.

Despite continued unforced errors by both teams, Lille were able to take the lead before the break. Celik took advantage of a good diagonal from Jonathan Bamba activating the weak side on the right wing and forced the intervention of Mandanda after a powerful shot in the front of the area. It was the only real notice of a rather unusual first half and that he again showed the lack of staff that André Villas-Boas has in Marseille.

The first two minutes of the second act had more emotion than the previous 45. Jonathan Bamba, the top scorer for Lille in the early part of the season, made a fantastic diagonal from the left wing to put the first goal of the game on a layup for Luiz Araujo. The Brazilian, who also scored last week in Metz, took advantage of his good form to beat Mandanda. A minute later, Nagatomo, who was in the photo of the first goal, gave Araujo precisely a ball that ended up missing Yilmaz incomprehensibly at the far post, assisted by the Lille winger. It was two minutes that anticipated what was to come at the Velodrome.

Lille was a steamroller for Marseille for many minutes. The fatigue was accentuated in Marseille, which again showed a worrying lack of depth in the squad for a team that is going to play in the Champions League this season. Araujo was able to score his second goal of the night, but his free-kick hit the crossbar. Five minutes later, Rongier had the clearest chance of the match for OM, but his shot on the edge of the box crashed off the post. It was a warning for a Lille who could end up paying the consequences of having spared his rival's life. Mandanda made two spectacular saves to keep OM in the header game by Araujo and Fonté that further praised the goalkeeper's performance at 35.

As it's usual, André Villas-Boas's OM has more lives than a cat. You may be on the edge of a cliff or you may be about to die on the river bank as the team always scores points from unlikely situations. When everything seemed to be decided on the visiting side, Valére Germain headed a cross from Sanson at the first post from a corner. Football does not understand justice and the clearest example we had in the Velodrome. A draw that saves Villas-Boas and that knows very little for Lille.