Everything will be decided in the return match.
By conceding the draw (2-2) on the lawn of Hamburg, in Germany, where Shakhtar Donetsk hosted, unable to play in its stadium due to the war in Ukraine, Olympique de Marseille did not The task is not made easy in view of the return match of this round of 16 of the Europa League and will absolutely have to win at the Orange Vélodrome next Thursday.
OM will undoubtedly have some regrets, since they led the score twice, thanks to Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Iliman Ndiaye.
Over the entire match, however, the score is logical.
Because Gennaro Gattuso's men could, or rather should have, been leading from the 27th minute.
While the Ukrainians launched a very rapid counter-attack, Zubkov tried to alert his attacker at the penalty spot.
Too long, the Ukrainian's pass seemed to slip towards the hands of Pau Lopez but a disagreement between the Spaniard and Jonathan Clauss allowed the Shakhtar Donetsk players to recover the ball and score in an empty goal.
😱 As Shakhtar opens the score against Marseille!
The match referee stops the game too early and blames Balerdi for a foul, who receives a yellow card!
pic.twitter.com/Xnn8rLsCV9
— RMC Sport (@RMCsport) February 15, 2024
It was ultimately the referee of this meeting, the Belgian Erik Lambrechts, who saved the Marseillais.
Seeing that Leonardo Balerdi had just committed a foul on Zubkov, and that the Ukrainian's pass had not found a taker, the official decided to call a foul, annihilating the rest of the action.
Despite the complaints of the Orange and Black, the decision had been made.
And OM could breathe.
Taking advantage of this twist of fate, the Marseille club created several opportunities to open the score.
In the 64th minute, a magnificent cross to the far post from Jonathan Clauss found Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
The Gabonese's one-step recovery hits the mark, and gives his team the advantage.
Of short time.
Four minutes later, the same Jonathan Clauss missed his clearance following a Ukrainian free kick, allowing Mykola Matviienko to deceive Pau Lopes.
This scenario repeated itself a second time.
In the 90th minute, taking advantage of a good effort from Aubameyang on the left of the area, Iliman Ndiaye thought to offer victory to his team with a beautiful right-footed shot.
But once again, the Marseillais lost their concentration.
A few seconds after kick-off, a cross from the untenable Zubkov found Eguinaldo's head.
Completely alone at the penalty point, the small size of 1.72 m has no trouble deceiving Pau Lopez (2-2, 90th + 3).
Everything has to be done again for OM.