It was a Monaco in doubt who crossed the Côte d'Azur to face OM at the Vélodrome this Saturday evening, certainly shaken by recent rumors of the sale of the club by its Russian owner Dmitri Rybolovlev.
Opposite, Gennaro Gattuso found an opponent he knows well, he who had experienced his first stint with Marseille against the same ASM, at the end of September.
A match lost (3-2) on the Rock and during which his team led twice.
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Above all, OM remained eliminated on penalties against Rennes in the Coupe de France but also two disappointing draws in Ligue 1. Add to that the ten absences on the Marseille side, between the CAN, the injuries to Rongier and Murillo and the suspension of Gigot.
Enough to worry the supporters who did not hesitate to display a banner hostile to the management at the start of the meeting.
A great start to the match
As soon as the banner was folded, Monaco was already showering the Vélodrome thanks to Wissam Ben Yedder.
From the seventh minute, the former Toulouse player received a wonderful deep pass from Golovine.
In the fight with Meïté, the Monegasque striker does not hesitate to deceive Pau Lopez.
The evening started like a nightmare for OM with a decimated bench.
But the exclusion of Guillermo Maripan for a foul on Vitinha in the 11th minute recalled the madness that was the first leg.
Finding this same enthusiasm depended on how OM were going to manage their numerical superiority.
After ten minutes marked by Marseille errors, the Phocaeans managed to regain the match on their own with dangerous strikes from Clauss (who was injured in the process) and Onana.
Then, on one of Luis Henrique's rare forays, Vitinha hit the post in the 38th minute.
The ball lands at the feet of Aubameyang located two meters from the cages who scores from point blank range.
First flagged offside, the Gabonese scored his sixth goal of the season.
Akliouche, as on the way out
A goal that enlivens the Vélodrome, eager to see their team hit the nail on the head before the break.
But neither rookie Ulisses Garcia nor Veretout will succeed, both failing against Köhn.
Worse still for Marseille supporters, it was ASM who returned to the locker room in front of the scoreboard.
Double scorer in the first leg, Maghnes Akliouche scratches the ball into Aubameyang's country at the entrance to the Monegasque area in added time.
Fifteen seconds later, we find him at the conclusion of a three-on-three counter led by Ben Yedder.
The striker from the France Espoirs team is perfectly served by his A counterpart and scores.
Crazy goal from Balerdi, Vitinha still very clumsy
After the break, Balerdi wants to show the whole stadium that he wants to make up for it, he who could have defended much better on the 1-2 goal.
From the central circle, the Argentine defender advances without being attacked and unleashes a powerful shot which ends in the back of the net.
After this crazy equalizer, OM did not manage to get ahead of the score, as evidenced by the two failures in quick succession by Vitinha (69th).
Opposite, Pau Lopez must work twice against Golovine then Ben Yedder to avoid the 2-3 goal (74th).
In an undecided end to the game where the organizations suffered from the intensity of the match and where Monaco finished at 9 after Zakaria's second yellow, Marseille failed to score the winning goal and recorded its third draw. 'in a row in the championship.
The last action, where Vitinha is unable to push the ball into the empty cages, sums up the frustration of the Phocaeans.