Olympique de Marseille beat Le Havre 4-3 at the Vélodrome on matchday 8 of Ligue 1. Himad Abdelli, Marseille’s attacking midfielder, scorer and man of the match according to Footmercato, and Amine Gouiri, forward and provider of an assist, carried OM before a nail-biting finale.
Four goals to the good on the hour, then three conceded in twelve minutes: Olympique de Marseille ended up claiming a third consecutive league win, but the 4-3 scoreline after a late Le Havre surge left the Vélodrome holding its breath. According to Le Phocéen, Marseille prevailed despite that tense finish.
Two Algeria internationals weighed heavily on the match: Himad Abdelli, scorer of Marseille’s fourth goal and named man of the match by Footmercato, and Amine Gouiri, the forward who provided the assist for the third.
Abdelli strikes, Footmercato crowns him
Abdelli scored OM’s fourth goal. The exact timing divides the match reports: Le Méridional places it in the 55th minute, Footmercato in the 57th. The discrepancy could not be resolved; the goal came in any case shortly after the hour mark.
According to Footmercato, Abdelli struck with his right foot after Gouiri won the ball from a free kick, Ahmed Touba having failed to clear inside his own area. Footmercato gave him a rating of 7.5/10 and made him man of the match, highlighting his technical quality between the lines.
Born in Montivilliers on 17 November 1999, Abdelli, an attacking midfielder, is 26 years old. He has 10 caps for Algeria, without a goal, according to Wikipedia.
Gouiri, the provider despite pre-match uncertainty
Gouiri was the other architect of Marseille’s success. He set up Igor Paixão for the 3-0 in the 50th minute, according to Le Phocéen and Coeur Marseillais, then picked out Abdelli on the right for the 4-0. Lagazette du Fennec, for its part, counts it as his second assist of the season.
His presence had by no means been certain: a pre-match article, picked up by Goal.com, reported that he was out of the Marseille squad after a shoulder injury sustained with Algeria against Uganda (2-1). The match reports ultimately place him on the pitch.
Abdelli’s scoring tally varies by source. Lagazette du Fennec refers to a third goal of the season, all scored in the last three matchdays, while Footmercato states 2 goals in 10 matches this season. The discrepancy is worth noting.
A 4-0 that almost wasn’t enough
According to Le Méridional, Marseille’s scorers were Egan-Riley (5th), Timothy Weah (33rd), Igor Paixão (50th) and Himad Abdelli. After that 4-0, the match swung: Josh Maja pulled one back from the penalty spot (77th), then Mouhamed Lamine N’Diaye (86th) and Maja again (89th) made the Vélodrome tremble.
Marseille’s 78th-minute substitutions, with the departure of Morocco winger Amine Harit, who started, as well as those of Gouiri and Abdelli, coincided with the Bruno Genesio-coached side losing control, according to Foot-sur7 and Footmercato.
According to Foot-sur7 and Le Phocéen, OM wobbled right up to the final whistle, despite their four-goal lead.