Olympique Marseille on Thursday night secured an important draw against Serie A side, SS Lazio at the Stadio Olimpico in the Europa League.
Although the draw might be an important point, the French team need maximum points to put them in a good position on the table ahead of the remaining two games in the group.
On matchday three of the European club second-tier tournament, Jorge Sampaoli’s men resisted everything thrown at them even to the last minutes to leave with this precious point of the Stadio Olimpico.
So far, the Ligue 1 side have earned three draws from their first three games, occupying the second Spot in E.
Turkish side, Galatasaray tops the table with 7 points while Lazio is second with four. The Russian side, Locomotive Moscow is rooted in the bottom with a single point.
Lazio started the game with a 4-3-3 with the trio Anderson, Immobile, Zaccagni in the attacking front while Sampaoli opted for a 3-4-3, with Milik, Under and Lirola in the attack.
The first chance of the game came to Marseille with Lirola on the left volleying his shot wide in the 17th minute.
The visitors continued to pile pressure on their host as Milik’s cross-shot spun just off (19th).
It took Lazio almost an hour to get their steam. They began real threat with Luiz Felipe’s header which forced Pau Lopez to pull out all the stops.
Later, Marseille almost got a goal, but they narrowly missed the opening goal just before the break. Under’s curled shot was deflected for a corner by Strakosha.
Lazio then returned from the dressing room in the second half with intent. Their talisman, Ciro Immobile, who was in an offside position couldn’t do much.
This made the match to be open to all as opportunities multiplied.
If Immobile’s heavy strike had hit the target, Lazio would have secured a maximum point, but his effort hit the crossbar.
Lopez further saved the team by winning his duel against Immobile three minutes to the end of the game and the Olympians brought back a precious draw from their trip to Rome – Such a result still give them hope of securing one of the top two spots.
Written by Oladipupo Mojeed
