Olympique Marseille postpones PSG championship party by hanging and strangling


Wednesday, April 20, 2022 at 10:59 PM• Chris Meijer • Last update: 23:05

Paris Saint-Germain has had to postpone the championship party for a while. Les Parisiens won without any problems at a visit to SCO Angers with 0-3. Close pursuer Olympique Marseille – next week’s opponent of Feyenoord in the semifinals of the Conference League – made no mistake, however, and won with the necessary pain and effort in their own stadium 3-2 against FC Nantes. PSG’s lead is fifteen points with five games to play and the goal difference is also a lot better (+45 to +22), making the title unofficial. The team of coach Mauricio Pochettino can officially become champion next Saturday in their own stadium against RC Lens.

Angers – Paris Saint Germain 0-3
PSG entered western France without the injured Lionel Messi and the suspended Neymar, while Mauro Icardi had to drop out during the warm-up and was replaced by Eric Junior Dina Ebimbe. Georginio Wijnaldum was on the reserve bench for the last two league games, but was given a basic place again against Angers by trainer Mauricio Pochettino. The first opportunity was for the home side, when goalkeeper Keylor Navas saved on a bet by Sofiane Boufal. However, the first goal came after 28 minutes from the other side: Kylian Mbappe was given space to take a swipe from the edge of the penalty area and put the ball with the left foot into the far corner.

Angers did not give in after the goal against and was close to the equalizer shortly before half time, when Mohamed-Ali Cho hit the post. However, all hope seemed to be thrown into the trash at the stroke of peace. A corner was taken shortly and brought in by Ángel Di Maria, where Sergio Ramos headed the ball into the right corner behind Anthony Mandrea with a subtle head movement. The fact that PSG did not run away to 0-3 with 65 minutes on the clock via Mbappé was thanks to a great save by Mandrea.

However, Mandrea had to capitulate for the third time fifteen minutes before the end. Di María reached the completely detached Marquinhos with a measured cross, who determined the final score at 0-3 with his head. Xavi Simons came in as a substitute for the last five minutes and saw Edouard Michut get another red card. Due to the victory of Olympique Marseille, that was not enough to officially secure the title, as the lead with five games to go is fifteen points. Next Saturday, PSG can once again become champion in their own Parc des Princes against RC Lens.

Olympique Marseille – FC Nantes 3-2
The match at the Stade Vélodrome was broken open after 26 minutes by a header from Andrei Girotto, who was released completely on a corner kick. Olympique Marseille had the upper hand in the first half, which resulted in the equalizer six minutes before half time. Nicolas Pallois floored Boubacar Kamara, after which the ball hit the spot and Dimitri Payet equalized the score from eleven meters. Nantes took the lead again before the break: Olympique Marseille couldn’t get the ball away twice. The ball fell through goalkeeper Pau López at the feet of Marcus Coco, who made good use of it by shooting the 1-2 into the top right corner.

Shortly after the break, Olympique Marseille put things in order for the second time. A wild sliding by substitute Fábio on Gerson within the penalty area was penalized, giving Payet his second goal of the evening on a silver platter. Fifteen minutes before the end, Olympique Marseille still took the match. Payet found Gerson with a handy ball, who in turn kept the overview and brought Amine Harit into position. The Moroccan attacking midfielder gave his old club a 3-2 defeat with a hit shot. Nantes ended the game with ten men, after the second yellow card for Coco.

No. Team m W G V † Pnt
1 Paris Saint Germain 33 24 5 4 45 77
2 Olympique Marseille 33 18 8 7 22 62
3 Stade Rennes 33 17 5 11 34 56
4 Strasbourg 33 15 11 7 20 56
5 AS Monaco 33 16 8 9 17 56
6 OGC Nice 33 16 7 10 13 54
7 RC Lens 33 15 8 10 11 53
8 Olympique Lyon 33 13 11 9 8 49
9 Lille OSC 33 12 12 9 1 48
10 Nantes 33 13 8 12 5 47
11 Montpellier 33 12 6 15 -2 42
12 Stade Brest 33 11 9 13 -6 42
13 Reims 33 9 13 11 0 40
14 Angers 33 8 10 15 -13 34
15 lorient 33 8 10 15 -19 34
16 Troyes AC 33 8 9 16 -16 33
17 Clermont 33 8 8 17 -28 32
18 Saint Etienne 33 7 10 16 -27 31
19 Girondins de Bordeaux 33 5 12 16 -35 27
20 Metz 33 4 12 17 -30 24