Igor Paixão walked away from the Marseille bench with his frustration written across his face on Sunday night, moments after OM had secured a much-needed 2-0 Ligue 1 victory at Troyes. The Brazilian winger did not hide his anger when Bruno Genesio brought him off late in the game, creating a brief but striking touchline exchange at the Stade de l’Aube.
The move
Paixão was replaced by Faris Moumbagna in the 87th minute and returned towards the Marseille technical area looking visibly upset. After greeting Moumbagna, the 1.68m right-footed winger did not take the hand offered by Genesio.
The 60-year-old Marseille coach reacted by catching his player’s arm as Paixão continued towards the bench without looking at him. Genesio eventually let go, appearing irritated by the public snub.
Genesio played down the incident after the final whistle, framing it as the reaction of a player struggling for form and confidence.
“He was disappointed to come off and perhaps disappointed with his own performance as well,” the coach said. “Those are reactions that can be understood when there is frustration and anger. Like the rest of the team, Igor needs to regain confidence, and he can rely on me to support him.”
The French season around it
Marseille won through Amine Harit’s 50th-minute goal before Himad Abdelli converted a penalty in stoppage time. It was only OM’s second league win of the campaign, but it lifted them to 13th place and gave Genesio’s side a little breathing room near the bottom of the table.
For Paixão, however, the trip to Troyes extended a difficult start to the season. The former Feyenoord player, who came through the academy at Coritiba, has yet to score in the league and has gone five matches without a goal or an assist.
His last decisive contribution came on the opening day, when he set up Amine Gouiri during Marseille’s 4-0 win over Strasbourg at the Vélodrome on 21 August.
- Igor Paixão: no goal this season and no decisive action across his last five matches.
- Amine Harit: opened the scoring against Troyes in the 50th minute.
- Himad Abdelli: sealed the away victory from the penalty spot in added time.
- Faris Moumbagna: replaced Paixão in the 87th minute.
Marseille now host Olympiacos in the Europa League on Thursday at 21:00 before travelling to Angers for Sunday’s Ligue 1 fixture, scheduled for 15:00. Paixão will hope that the next chance offered by Genesio brings a response on the pitch rather than another difficult walk towards the bench.
