Ligue 1, Matchday 5: OM vs. AS Nancy Lorraine

It's a Family Affair

The pursuit for perfect continues for Marseille as we bagged another win against Nancy making it five in a row. In fact OM made history as the club has never had a season in which they won their first five matches! As has been the theme for our season thus far, nearly everyone on the pitch pulled their weight albeit a few hiccups along the way.

The first half saw Marseille dominate in possession with the Nancy defense under constant siege. Yet an opening goal eluded us many shots went astray or right into the hands of Ndy Assembe. Gignac alone had a total of five chances on goal in the first half alone! But with everything he’s done for the team thus far, lets just chalk it up to bad luck? Jordan Ayew was a standout right from the beginning of the game. Superb crosses, dominating the flanks Nancy simply could not contain him. His efforts finally payed off in the 53rd minute when brother Andre sent a gorgeous cross that was headed in with ease.

The remainder of the match saw a slight resurgence from Nancy with Sebastien Puygrenier nearly getting a header past Mandanda. Having not scored a goal for 235 minutes prior to this match, the goalless drought continues for Nancy. Tacking on another loss sees them drop to 17th place and also the worst goal differential in all of Ligue 1.

While this game was filled with many positives, allow me to nitpick in that many of our victories have been by the skin of our teeth. Goal production as it stands wont be enough eventually our luck will run out in this regard. Sure we dominated possession against Nancy and Mandanda only had to make one save, but we should have been up by a goal at halftime. Remember Lyon are also undefeated as well and the way Gomis and Bastos are playing, its kind of scary to be honest. Regardless another win and another week closer to Le Classique! Until then get ready for our first Europa League group stage against Fenerbache in Istanbul. I’m hoping to see the likes of Remy, Barton, and Mendes make their debut and of course another win. Allez l’OM!

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