Marseille fell away at Lens on Saturday night during an all-important clash at the top of the Ligue 1 standings. The Artois side prevailed thanks to goals from skipper Séko Fofana (28) and in-form Belgian striker Loïs Openda (23). Les Phocéens halved the deficit late on courtesy of Dimitri Payet (36). The hosts leapfrogged Marseille in the Ligue 1 standings to go second, with only a three point gap to league leaders PSG. Les Parisians will face Troyes tonight.
However, everything could have been different if Alexis Sánchez’s (34) early opening goal would have stood. The Chilean international was deemed to have fouled Lens centre-back Kevin Danso (24) following a VAR review by French referee Clément Turpin. A controversial call to say the least. The Croatian Marseille manager Igor Tudor was evidently left frustrated over the game’s proceedings. “I reviewed the images and, honestly, I don’t see a foul,” Tudor said in his post-game press conference that Le Parisien attended.
The former Juventus centre-back doubled-down on his criticism of Turpin’s officiating. “I said to the referee that he had the courage to disallow our goal, but he was not brave enough to show [Facundo] Medina a second yellow card.” Tudor referred to a rough tackle from the Argentine on OM centre-back Chancel Mbemba (28). “If he had the balls in a way, he ought to have balls in another way.“
GFFN | Bastien Cheval
