PLAYER RATINGS | Marseille 0-2 PSG: Contentious decisions dominate Le Classique

Olympique de Marseille looked to the international break for a moment to rest and reset after two defeats but ended up in an injury crisis. Leonardo Balerdi and Ulisses Garcia’s expedited recovery helped alleviate some of the defensive concerns ahead of a visit from eternal rivals Paris Saint-Germain. 

Despite the circumstances, Marseille played well in the early stages of the first half, even controlling the ball for parts of the match. However, it wasn’t to last as PSG slowly gained a foothold in the game. The visitors moved the ball around well and looked to begin to break past the defensive line with ease. 

Both sides came close to scoring but neither found the net with Marseille hitting the post from a Jordan Veretout effort, while Ousmane Dembélé from his false nine position, dribbled past the defence and looked to be through on goal before his shot trickled wide. 

However, the shape of the game looked to fundamentally change when Lucas Beraldo pushed Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang off the pitch. It looked like a fair challenge which the referee originally waved on before VAR advised him to consult the replay. 

On his second look, the referee upgraded his decision to a straight red card dropping PSG to ten men for the remaining five minutes of the first half. 

Marseille’s problems grew again in the second half when Chancel Mbemba came off injured. Samuel Gigot who was a doubt for this game was brought on in his place. It only took PSG a few minutes to make the issue worse, a sweeping attack from the visitors, saw Dembélé drift into the box before selflessly shifting the ball wide to Vitinha to finish the movement. 

Veretout believed he’d levelled the scores but was left ruing the offside flag, as Harit’s cutback was judged to be offside. The hosts continued to push but PSG kept a tight shape looking to spring fast counters. 

The night ended early once again for Kylian Mbappé who had a quiet night. He was visibly disappointed and went straight down the tunnel. Marseille maintained their pressure, after the substitution attempting to find a way to turn their man advantage into a way of rescuing the result. 

A contentious decision at the end saw Gigot hit in the head by Gianluigi Donnarumma. The resulting corner was poorly taken and PSG broke from the set piece with Achraf Hakimi and Gonçalo Ramos combining to heap pressure on Marseille and double the lead. The riot shields were out as they protected the forward from missiles. 

The hosts tried to hit back immediately but Donnarumma was in inspired form keeping the Marseille away from the goal, and maintaining the visitor’s clean sheet. It was too late for Marseille, the game was over, and a rivalry that has come to represent pride over league titles was lost. 

Marseille player ratings 

Pau López, 5

Quentin Merlin, 5

Leonardo Balerdi, 5

Chancel Mbemba, 6

Ulisses Garcia, 5

Jordan Veretout, 7

Geoffrey Kondogbia, 5

Amine Harit, 5

Iliman Ndiaye, 4

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, 4 –  A quiet night for a striker that has been the biggest threat for Marseille in recent weeks. Despite the red card, Aubameyang was unable to capitalise on the man-advantage. 

Luis Henrique, 3

PSG player ratings 

Gianluigi Donnarumma, 7 – The goalkeeper was in inspired form to keep Marseille out of this game. Often criticised for what he cannot do with his feet, but his skillset have been invaluable in keeping a clean sheet for the hosts. 

Lucas Hernández, 5

Lucas Beraldo, 3

Danilo Pereira, 4

Achraf Hakimi, 5

Vitinha, 6

Warren Zaïre-Emery, 6

Fabián Ruiz, 4

Kylian Mbappé, 4

Randal Kolo Muani, 6

Ousmane Dembélé, 7 – The Frenchman was the best player on the pitch for PSG. His deeper position was the perfect springboard for him to drift into dangerous positions and help facilitate his teammates.

GFFN | Nick Hartland