Genesio raises his voice at half-time and OM snatches fifth victory at Lens

Olympique de Marseille secured their fifth Ligue 1 victory of the season on Sunday evening at Bollaert, defeating RC Lens 2-1 in the closing match of matchday 11, three days after beating Bayer Leverkusen in the Ligue des Champions.

The scenario could have turned into a nightmare. Amine Gouiri opened the scoring in the second minute, but Florian Thauvin — facing his former club — quickly equalized with a header. OM then settled into passive management that provoked Bruno Genesio’s anger at half-time. “I got a bit worked up, I raised my voice a bit at half-time about that,” acknowledged the Marseille manager. “We fell asleep, instead of continuing to press after the opening goal. We settled for sterile possession. We got this team going again.”

Genesio also praised his goalkeeper Jeffrey De Lange, who was decisive before the break: “Fortunately he was very, very good for us to keep it at 1-1.” Without his saves, OM’s sterile dominance could have turned into defeat in Artois.

The half-time message bore fruit. In the second half, Marseille rediscovered their edge. The introductions of Angel Gomes and Keyliane Abdallah swung the match, the latter finishing a collective move initiated by the midfielder and relayed by Paixao to seal the winning goal (1-2).

OM now occupy fourth place in Ligue 1, with momentum that allowed them to force the issue in the final quarter-hour for the second time in four days. Genesio, true to form, immediately tempered the enthusiasm: “You know me, I’m certainly not going to start getting carried away. You have to savor it, but you have to be vigilant. You have to stay measured, as we have been from the start.”