Marseille were forced to settle for a 1-1 draw in the opening leg of their UEFA Europa League semi-final against Atalanta, despite dominating the game for large periods.
The visitors took a shock lead on 11 minutes when former West Ham forward Gianluca Scamacca converted from Teun Koopmeiners’ pass.
The response was almost instant though, with Chancel Mbemba deservedly equalising with a terrific long-range strike.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang then missed a pair of chances either side of half-time for the hosts, the best of them when sent through one-on-one by Amine Harit, only to drag his effort wide.
Marseille continued to impress after the break, but they struggled to create too many clear openings, with substitute Iliman Ndiaye rattling the woodwork with the best of them.
That left the hosts open to a sucker-punch at the other end, and Atalanta came so close to stealing the win when substitute Aleksey Miranchuk dragged wide after a rapid counter-attack.
The second leg takes place on Thursday, May 9, live on TNT Sports and discovery+.
TALKING POINT – Missed chance for Marseille?
Marseille, three-time finalists in the UEFA Europa League / UEFA Cup, may feel that this match finishing all square was a missed opportunity for them.
The French outfit had by far the best of the chances on home soil, but their finishing simply was not good enough when they got in and around the penalty area.
Atalanta will have been mightily relieved to have escaped with a draw given the pressure they were under at times, and may now be slight favourites to make it to Dublin for the final.
PLAYER OF THE MATCH
Amine Harit (Marseille). The forward was surprisingly hooked off after 71 minutes, but up to that point he had been the most threatening player on the pitch.
Harit caused constant problems for Atalanta with his directness and pace, often surging forward to create chances for his side.
But it was his passing that was most lethal, regularly feeding his team-mates in and around the penalty area as he proved a thorn in the side of the defenders, who would have been happy to have seen him withdrawn.
PLAYER RATINGS
MARSEILLE: Lopez 7; Clauss 7, Mbemba 7, Balerdi 6, Murillo 6, Henrique 7; Veretout 7, Kondogbia 7, Harit 8; Sarr 6, Aubameyang 7. Subs: Moumbagna 6, Merlin 6, Ounahi 6, Ndiaye 7
ATALANTA: Musso 5, Djimsiti 6, Scalvini 6, Kolasinac 7; Zappacosta 7, de Roon 7, Ederson 6, Ruggeri 6; De Ketelaere 7, Koopmeiners 8, Scamacca 7. Subs: Pasalic 6, Lookman 7, Hateboer n/a, Miranchuk n/a
KEY MOMENTS
11’ GOAL! MARSEILLE 0-1 ATALANTA (Gianluca Scamacca). OUT OF NOWHERE! Atalanta have barely broken into the Marseille half, but they suddenly have the lead and Scamacca is picked out in the area and converts with a clinical finish. Wow!
20’ GOAL! MARSEILLE 1-1 ATALANTA (Chancel Mbemba) IT HAS BEEN COMING! What a finish by the defender as well! A short corner leads to Mbemba picking up possession 25 yards out, and he curls a wonderful effort into the far top corner. That is magnificent.
42’ AUBAMEYANG FIRES WIDE. Wow! A rapid, rapid counter-attack by Marseille, with Harit feeding the Europa League’s top scorer Aubameyang in acres of space, but he drags his shot wide of the far post! Given he was through one-on-one, you would expect him to hit the target at the very least from there
74’ OFF THE BAR! Ndiaye has only been on the pitch seconds and with his first touch he rattles the ball, although he slips as he shoots and that must have impacted him slightly
90’ CLOSE FROM MIRANCHUK. The substitute has a chance in the dying moments of the game, with a counter-attack eventually ending in the striker dragging a shot narrowly wide
KEY STATS
- Marseille extend their winless run against Italian opponents to 12 games, dating back to 2012
- Atalanta have not lost any of their last dozen away fixtures in the Europa League