Himad Abdelli had scored Marseille’s fourth goal and, for more than an hour at the Vélodrome, the afternoon appeared finished. Then Le Havre tore through a fading home side, leaving the Algerian midfielder to celebrate three points with a warning rather than relief.
The move
Marseille survived a remarkable late collapse to beat Le Havre 4-3 on matchday eight of Ligue 1. Bruno Genesio’s side had built a 4-0 advantage before allowing the visitors back into a match that had seemed beyond recovery.
CJ Egan-Riley opened the scoring in the fifth minute, with Timothy Weah extending the lead on 33 minutes. Igor Paixao struck five minutes after the break, before Abdelli made it 4-0 in the 55th minute.
- CJ Egan-Riley — Marseille’s first scorer, fifth minute
- Timothy Weah — Marseille’s second scorer, 33rd minute
- Igor Paixao — Marseille’s third scorer, 50th minute
- Himad Abdelli — Marseille’s fourth scorer, 55th minute
- Josh Maja — Le Havre goals in the 77th and 89th minutes
- Lamine N’Diaye — Le Havre goal in the 86th minute
Le Havre took advantage as Marseille’s intensity dropped. Josh Maja began the comeback in the 77th minute, N’Diaye added another nine minutes later, and Maja’s second goal made it 4-3 with one minute of normal time remaining.
The visitors then believed they could have one final route to an equaliser when VAR sent referee Clément Turpin to review a possible handball by Tochukwu Nnadi in the Marseille area. Turpin decided against awarding a penalty, and Marseille held on.
Abdelli demands a full 90 minutes
Abdelli did not disguise his frustration after the final whistle. The midfielder said a team leading 4-0 at home could not allow three goals and create such anxiety in the closing stages.
He accepted the value of the result but called the manner of the finish unacceptable. “A match lasts 90 minutes,” Abdelli said. “We have to give everything for 90, not 70 or 80. If you only do it for 80 minutes, you can concede three silly goals.”
His message also reached the substitutes. Abdelli said those entering the game had to match the work of the players who had started, adding that it had not happened on this occasion. Marseille will work on it, he said, and perhaps those same players could make the difference next week.
The French season around it
Genesio was equally unhappy despite the victory, saying the final minutes had probably cost him “a little life expectancy.” He felt Marseille had been punished for a lack of humility and said they had escaped the consequences.
The coach called the chaotic final 15 minutes a warning his squad must remember. He said his team lost its collective shape and singled out the impact of the young players introduced from the bench.
Genesio said he was particularly disappointed because those youngsters are regularly praised for their quality and attitude. In Marseille, he added, a young player entering a match has a responsibility to prove himself. He was “very angry” and said they must learn quickly from the mistakes that nearly turned a commanding Ligue 1 performance into a damaging night.
