Dead heat as Le Racing stun Olympiens in dramatic draw
Marseille were threatening from the off, and it did not take long for them to find an opener and stun the boisterous home crowd inside the Stade de la Meinau. While the Marseille attackers had worked plenty of intricate moves on the edge of the box in the opening 10 minutes, it was a route one pass coming all the way from goalkeeper Pau López which found Bamba Dieng, who collected the ball and slotted home to send Marseille in front.
Les Olympiens continued to flex their attacking muscles, and doubled their lead just past the half-hour mark when Jonathan Clauss slid an inch-perfect ball across the face of goal to pick out Manchester City loanee Issa Kaboré, who tapped home his first career Ligue 1 goal to cap off a superb team move.
The hosts pushed to reclaim parity in the second half, but appeared to leave their shooting boots at home. Finally, the duck broke with 15 minutes remaining to save themselves when Lebo Mothiba chested down a cross in style and lashed his shot into the roof of the net to cut the Marseille advantage in half, and set the home crowd alight with hope in the dying minutes.
While the Mothiba strike looked to be too little too late for the hosts, the home faithful would erupt once again as Kevin Gameiro’s stoppage-time strike took a deflection on its way into the back of the net to level the scoreline with almost the last kick of the game. The dramatic result sees Julien Stéphan’s side move a point clear of the relegation zone as they look to reignite their season.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Jonathan Clauss (Olympique Marseille)