Gignac Too Good For 9 Man Toulouse
A superb strike from former Toulouse player Andre-Pierre Gignac was enough to give Marseille a 3rd straight away win and see them go joint top of the ligue. As much as the Toulouse crowd complained about Benoit Batien’s refereeing, Toulouse only have themselves to blame for going down to 9 men and leaving themselves with little chance of getting any sort of positive result.
Toulouse received their first red on the half-hour mark as M’Benque recklessly challenged Amalfitano. Some complaints were that it was a little harsh, but with the way referees have managed games this season there have been far softer reds given.
The game could have been won almost before half time for Marseille. Tabanou brought down Jordan Ayew in the box and a penalty was awarded, surprisingly the referee rather leniently only booked Tabanou despite him being the last man. Unlike against Bastia earlier this week though, Andre Ayew couldn’t dispatch the penalty, his stuttering run up allowing Ahamada the time to choose correctly and save.
Less than 5 minutes later though, Tabanou had received his marching orders after a ridiculous challenge on Fanni. Even if he hadn’t been booked five minutes earlier it was a terrible challenge.
The introduction of Gignac gave Marseille a bit of a boost after half time, but they still couldn’t create any clear cut chances. Gignac’s hard work and endeavour saw him stereotypically drift out onto either flank and this lead led to his match winning goal. Morel played in Gignac down the left, who then cut in and sent a curling shot into the far right hand corner past Ahamada, who had been excellent all night.
As the game progressed, far from capitalising and adding to this goal lead, Toulouse looked the more likely to grab a goal and a hard fought equaliser. Thankfully though this didn’t happen and OM held on to go joint top of the ligue heading into the last round of fixtures before the winter break.
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