OM recovered by overthrowing Newcastle thanks to two goals from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang

Quickly trailing, the Marseillais finally won (2-1) against Newcastle on Tuesday at the Vélodrome, ending a streak of two consecutive defeats.

In 2004, against Newcastle, Didier Drogba scored two decisive goals for Olympique de Marseille in the Europa League semifinals. Twenty-one years later, it was Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang who took advantage of the Magpies’ arrival at the Vélodrome to impress on Tuesday, November 25. Scoring two goals in the space of four minutes early in the second half, the Gabon player brought OM back to winning ways (2-1), in this poster for day 5 of the Champions League.

If, unlike Didier Drogba, this double does not see Marseillais through to the final, it will relaunch OM’s European season. And the Phocaean side appear to have lost track of their Champions League fortunes, after a disastrous start to the game.

Before Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang donned his hero’s costume, OM actually started their night in reverse. If Roberto De Zerbi talks about “holy fire” Before the start of this encounter, which was undeciding but crucial, the start of the Olympian’s match turned into a damp squib. Due to Newcastle’s bite, OM shuddered with Bruno Guimaraes’ header, saved on his line by Pierre-Emile Höjbjerg, then fired a cross that went through the Marseille defense like a pinball before ending up at the feet of Harvey Barnes, alone at the far post, who adjusted Geronimo Rulli (0-1, 6).

With the score superior, Newcastle then made another better counterattack, handing the ball over to Marseillais. We had to wait until the 18th minute to see Marseille’s shot from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, from a tight angle, saved by Nick Pope. The Gabon players almost equalized with a chest volley, which was again blocked by the England goalkeeper (ranked 19th). Finally entering the match, the Olympians almost went out due to a recovery error from Leonardo Balerdi who served Sandro Tonali whose shot was too soft to be caught by Geronimo Rulli (23).

The Argentinian goalkeeper, inspired once again, saved his team from Anthony Gordon (ranked 43rd), while OM managed to close out the match, especially through a curling shot from Paixao (ranked 34th).

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang thought he would get a penalty, after a fierce duel with Malick Thiaw followed by his shot going wide (40th), like his header a few minutes earlier (37th). The break allowed the Gabon player to adjust his outlook. Returning from the dressing room, served well by Darryl Bakola, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang beat the England goalkeeper’s dangerous exit to score from a very tight angle (1-1, 46th).

The Stade Vélodrome was thrown into hysterics four minutes later when the number 97 cut in Timothy Weah’s cross to double the lead (2-1, 50th). Within four minutes, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and OM had just knocked out the Magpies. However, the anxiety of the Marseille public did not go unnoticed, at the end of the match which featured almost as many scores of 3-1 as scores of 2-2. However, the Marseillais team, which had lost six points in the Champions League after opening the scoring, was able to survive this time.

Thanks to the first success against a team from one of the top four European championships in the UEFA index (England, Spain, Italy, Germany) in the Champions League since 2012 (17 matches), Olympique de Marseille now has six points, before two trips to Belgium against Union Saint-Gilloise and Club Bruges, interspersed with Liverpool receptions.

Three matches in which OM must gain at least three points, according to Opta’s latest predictions, to qualify for the Champions League play-offs. A mission that once again seemed within reach for Roberto De Zerbi’s men, at the end of the night Europe was finally done for OM.