Marseille's miserable European start deepened on Thursday night, as Santiago Hezze's header just before half-time earned Olympiacos a disciplined 1-0 win at a frustrated Stade Velodrome and left the French side pointless after two Europa League matches.
Bruno Genesio's team had most of the ball and almost all of the territory, yet walked off with nothing for the second European game running. Olympiacos, by contrast, defended their box superbly, took the one clear chance that mattered, and made it two wins from two to continue their perfect start to the league phase.
Hezze Punishes Marseille Before The Break
For long stretches of the first half, this was attack against defence without much of a cutting edge. Marseille circulated the ball, won corner after corner — nine over the course of the night — but struggled to turn control into clear openings against a compact Greek back line.
When Stefan Ortega was finally tested late in the half, the Olympiacos goalkeeper produced a full-stretch stop to keep out Keyliane Abdallah's powerful drive that seemed bound for the top corner. It proved a turning point. Within minutes, with three minutes of the half remaining, Chiquinho swung in a corner and Hezze rose highest to power a header beyond Jeffrey de Lange.
Olympiacos even thought they had doubled the lead in first-half added time, only for Roman Yaremchuk's rebound finish to be ruled out for an offside in the build-up. As the match report on Flashscore noted, Marseille were made to pay for a lack of creativity at the decisive moments.
Ortega Holds Firm As The Velodrome Grows Restless
Marseille pushed harder after the restart, and the chances finally began to come. Igor Paixao stung Ortega's palms from distance, then drove a low cross that Panagiotis Retsos very nearly turned into his own net. The home side's best spell arrived around the hour, when Ortega pulled off a fine double save, first denying Timothy Weah and then keeping out the ever-dangerous Paixao on the follow-up.
That was as close as Marseille came. Substitutes were thrown on, the volume inside the Velodrome rose, and late efforts from Amine Harit and Paixao flew off target as Olympiacos saw out the closing minutes with the kind of game management that has become their trademark on the road. According to Reuters, the defeat continued a poor start to the European campaign for Marseille, who also lost their opener.
The numbers underlined the frustration: 56 percent possession, 11 shots and nine corners, but only two clear-cut chances created — and none taken.
So What Does It Mean?
The contrast between the two clubs could hardly be sharper. Olympiacos sit on six points from six, alongside the likes of Juventus, Benfica and Milan's teenage-inspired side that lit up Salzburg in the Milan report on this site, and they now welcome Sparta Praha knowing a third straight win would put one foot in the knockout rounds.
Marseille, meanwhile, are in real trouble. Beaten 4-1 by Besiktas on matchday one, they have now lost four consecutive matches in European competition and sit pointless near the foot of the league-phase table. Their next European trip takes them to Sturm Graz — the side swept aside 3-0 by Bournemouth in the Bournemouth report elsewhere on this site — and it already looks close to must-win territory. Another defeat would leave Genesio's side needing a near-perfect run simply to reach the play-off round, and the pressure on the coach will only grow if the domestic form cannot mask the European failures for much longer.
Beyond the Final Whistle: This was not bad luck. Marseille had the ball, the crowd and the corners, but no plan beyond hoping Paixao would conjure something — and one lapse at a set piece was all a streetwise Olympiacos needed. A club of Marseille's size and wage bill should not be pointless after two Europa League games, and unless Genesio finds a cutting edge quickly, this European season will be remembered as an embarrassment at the Velodrome.
Can Marseille still turn their Europa League campaign around from here? Have your say in the comments.
