PLAYER RATINGS | Marseille 2-2 Monaco: Marseille fail to take advantage of nine-man Monaco

Despite neither Olympique de Marseille nor AS Monaco being in the Champions League positions before the start of this match, these occasions between the two titans of the French game always feel vital to the race for European football. A draw was a result that neither side wanted, as it allowed the Champions League places to slip just a bit further away, as the hunting pack around them gained more ground. 

Monaco pushed forward from the first whistle as they looked for a fast start, which was duly delivered when Aleksandr Golovin lifted the ball over the retreating Marseille backline and into Wissam Ben Yedder’s path. The striker shot cleanly to open the scoring and put the visitors in the ascendency from the 7th minute. 

Only three minutes later, Guillermo Maripán was judged to have brought down the last man, Vitinha, and was shown a straight red for the act. Marseille who had until this point only attacked through a few rare transitions, were now provided with the majority of the ball, as their guests switched focus to defend and frustrate. 

The hosts lost Jonathan Clauss to add to their already pronounced selection crisis as Emran Soglo was brought on for only his fifth professional appearance. Before finding some luck, Vitinha came close as his shot trickled into the post, where Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was waiting and ready to finish the effort and level the scores. 

Despite Marseille’s newfound dominance, Monaco recovered the lead with the last touch of the half. Aubameyang lost the ball on the edge of the visitor’s box, where Ben Yedder stole forward and combined with Maghnes Akliouche to go ahead into the break. 

The second half did not let up on the excitement as Leonardo Balerdi levelled the scores with a wonderful strike from distance. The shot was pure and powerful and flew past the outstretched Philipp Köhn. 

Monaco despite being a man down, attempted to defend higher up the pitch when they could after the halftime pause. They held a high line as they attempted to pin Marseille back and alleviate some of the pressure that came with the large stretches in the first half where they had to defend within their own box. 

Tempers began to flare between the two sides as the half wore to its close and frustrations at the scoreline took hold. Late challenges and retaliations, left an atmosphere on the pitch that looked close to boiling over. And a few minutes before the game was finished, Monaco were reduced to nine men, as Denis Zakaria collected a second yellow for a clumsy tackle. 

Still, Marseille could not find that final goal to unlock a Monaco defence that had for the majority of the game been outnumbered, but not outplayed. 

Marseille player ratings 

Pau López, 6 – Despite conceding two first-half goals, López was generally impressive and vital in keeping Monaco at bay in the second half. 

Ulisses Garcia, 5

Bamo Meïté, 5

Leonardo Balerdi, 6

Emran Soglo, 4 – The substitute looked nervy in this appearance and hesitant at times to engage in the game. He was brought off before the end as Gattuso attempted to roll the dice and force a late victory. 

Jean Onana, 5

Geoffrey Kondogbia, 5

Jordan Veretout, 5

Luis Henrique, 4

Vitinha, 2 – There are only so many point-blank shots that a player can miss before you start feeling desperately sorry for them. Vitinha is always in the right position but his inability to finish cost Marseille the victory. The image of him walking straight down the tunnel after his last-minute miss summarised a painful performance. 

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, 4

Monaco player ratings 

Philipp Köhn, 3 – Looked extremely nervous in the second half. On a few occasions, Köhn was caught out of position and struggled with Marseille’s attempts to cross the ball into the box. He was extremely fortunate that the hosts were unable to capitalise on these mistakes. 

Thilo Kehrer, 5

Mohammed Salisu, 6

Vanderson, 6

Denis Zakaria, 3 – Zakaria allowed the frustrations of the game to get the better of him as he received two avoidable yellow cards. He was lucky that Marseille could not take better advantage of their situation, as he put his team in a tricky scenario. 

Youssouf Fofana, 5

Kassoum Ouattara, 6

Maghnes Akliouche, 6

Aleksandr Golovin, 6

Wissam Ben Yedder, 7 – In contrast to his opposite number, Ben Yedder had a good game leading the line for Monaco. Opportunities dried up in the second half for the visitors, but on those rare occasions when the Principality threatened then it was often Yedder that looked the likeliest to score.

GFFN | Nick Hartland