Marseille v Brighton -
First away game in Europe
5 OCTOBER 2023
MARSEILLE 2 ( Chancel Mbemba 1 , Jordan Veretout 1 )
BRIGHTON & HOVE ALBIION 2 ( Pascal Gross 1 Joao Pedro 1, penalty)
UEFA EUROPA LEAGUE, GROUP B, MD2 -
at the STADE ORANGE VELODROME, MARSEILLE.
Matchday 2 in the Europa League saw Albion travel to Marseille for a Group B fixture at the Stade Orange Velodrome, "live" in front of the TNT cameras and broadcast over the airwaves on BBC Radio Sussex Sport.
Last time out the Seagulls suffered their biggest-ever top-flight defeat, 1-6 at Aston Villa on the 30 September and for their first ever European trip to Marseille, Albion Head Coach Roberto De Zerbi made five changes to his starting line-up from the Villa game, with Jan Paul Van Hecke, Tariq Lamptey, Pascal Gross, Mahmoud Dahoud and Ansu Fati coming in for Adam Webster, Pervis Estupinan (injured), Jack Hinshelwood, Billy Gilmour and Evan Ferguson.
Marseille had new Head Coach, Italian Gennaro Gattuso taking charge of his first home game for the Ligue 1 side, whilst there were 2800 fans in the Stade Orange Velodrome supporting the Albion in their first away game in Europe.
A noisy Velodrome saw the visitors create the first chance of the game when a surging run by Solly March end with Ansu Fati's goal-bound shot being deflected by Marseille defender Jonathan Clauss. The Albion were the
rocked by two Marseille goals around the 20 minute mark. First, Clauss got clear on the right and his low cross was rifled home by Chancel Mbemba from close-in. 0-1. Seconds later the home side went two up when an uncharacteristic error by Lewis Dunk enabled Amine Harit to cross from the right to the waiting Jordan Veretout who was on hand to slot his shot past Albion keeper Jason Steele. 0-2.
The Seagulls then had a penalty claim turned down by VAR, Danny Welbeck blazed over when well-placed and at the other end keeper Steele made a fine save to deflect Harit's shot from distance over the bar. Five minutes prior to the break the Albion hit a purple patch and Marseille keeper Pau Lopez made two fine saves to keep out efforts from Fati and Welbeck and the last action of the half saw March fail to find the target from close-range. Half-time 0-2.
The Seagulls made the ideal start to the second-half when they pulled a goal back on 54 minutes as a fine move involving Tariq Lamptey, Kaoru Mitoma and Welbeck ended with Pascal Gross firing a low shot past keeper Lopez. 1-2. The Seagulls were now in the ascendancy, Jan Paul Van Hecke
went close with a header, Mitoma had a fierce shot saved by Lopez and then substitute Simon Adringa went close to equalising. Dunk then made a superb defensive intervention to prevent substitute Vitor Manuel Carvalho Oiiveira from scoring. On 88 minutes the Albion got their just reward when Clauss fouled the marauding Lamptey in the area and up-stepped the cool Joao Pedro to slot home the resultant penalty-kick. 2-2. The draw ensured that the Albion had deservedly earned their first-ever point in European football.
Final-score 2-2.
Match stats:
Albion had 14 attempts at goal, with 5 on target and won 5 corners,
free-kicks conceded - 10.
Marseille had 14 attempts at goal, with 4 on target and won 8 corners,
free-kicks conceded - 10.
VERDICT - After going 0-2 down in less than two first-half minutes, the
Albion staged a superb second-half comeback to gain their first-ever point
in European football. The maturity of their second-half performance showed that the Seagulls have the capability of reaching the knock-out stages of the Europa League.
Albion line-up (4-2-3-1):- Jason Steele; Joel Veltman, Jan Paul Van Hecke. Lewis Dunk (Capt), Tariq Lamptey; Pascal Gross, Mahmoud Dahoud (Billy
Gilmour 67); Solly March (Simon Adringa 76), Ansu Fati (Joao Pedro 66),
Kaoru Mitoma; Danny Welbeck (Evan Ferguson 77).
Subs not used: Bart Verbruggen (G/K), Igor Julio, Adam Webster, Carlos Baleba, Facundo Buonanotte, Jack Hinshelwood, Tom McGill (G/K).
Marseille line-up (4-3-3):- Pau Lopez; Jonathan Clauss, Chancel Mbemba,
Leonardo Balerdi, Amir Murillo; Amine Harit, Valentin Rongier, Jordan
Veretout (Azzedine Ounahi 51); Iliman Ndiaye (Renan Lodi 79), Pierre-
Emerick Aubameyang (Vitor Manuel Carvalho Oliveira 62), Joaquin Correa
(Ismaila Sarr 62).
Subs not used: Simon Ngapandouetnbu (G/K), Bamo Meite, Bilal Nadir, Emran Soglo, Caprice, Tunkadi, Ruben Blanco (G/K).
Referee: Mykola Balakin (Ukraine).
Yellow Cards:
Albion: 4 - Joel Veltman, Lewis Dunk, Pascal Gross, Evan Ferguson.
Marseille: 3 Jonathan Clauss, Leonardo Balerdi, Ismaila Sarr.
Possession: Albion - 54%. Marseille - 46%.
BBC Sport Player of the Match: Lewis Dunk (Albion).
Attendance: 63465 (including 2800 Albion fans).