The last two survivors of French football in the European Cup, after the Champions League fiasco, did not spend a quiet evening in the first leg of the Europa League for Lyon and the Europa League Conference for Marseille.
Lyon is trapped then reacts…
In the quarter-final first leg of the Europa League, Lyon kept all their chances of qualifying in the last four by seeking a draw in England (1-1).
A frustrating result given the evening.
West Ham, the club of Frenchmen Alphonse Areola and Kurt Zouma, opened the scoring with a 52nd-minute goal from Jarrod Bowen after an error from Jerome Boateng.
It's Balot because Lyon, until the opener, dominated the game.
Just before the break, OL even found themselves in numerical superiority.
Guilty of a tackle leaning on Moussa Dembélé, Aaron Cresswell left before everyone else in the shower (45th + 3).
Fortunately, OL reacted quickly by equalizing thanks to Tanguy Ndombele (66th) so as not to be afraid.
But in the end, Lyon had to settle for a disappointing draw.
Dembélé's partners have,
thus, struck 22 times on goal for only 3 shots on target.
Faced with the Hammers who mainly tried to limit the breakage, Lyon had the place to bring in better.
And Marseille is scared
In the first leg of the Europa League Conference, the match between Olympique de Marseille and PAOK Salonika almost did not start.
All day, clashes broke out in town between the police and the ultras of the Greek club landed with around 3,000 individuals.
In the stadium just before kick-off, it remained very hot until the last moment but the referee gave the green light all the same to the smooth running of the game.
So much the better for OM who have taken a step towards the semi-finals of this third-tier European Cup.
The Marseillais struck very quickly by opening the scoring in the 13th minute thanks to a nice movement from Gerson.
Just before the break, Dimitri Payet doubled with a sumptuous strike.
The second half, however,
was more delicate for the Marseillais who trembled after the Greek goal of El-Kaddouri as soon as the recovery (48th).
Marseille held on, but the Phocaeans will have to be strong to keep this advantage in the Salonika cauldron amidst the unleashed supporters.
Especially since they will be deprived of Gerson sent off in stoppage time and Kamara also suspended.
