On Wednesday night, D.C. United hosted Olympique de Marseille (OM) for a friendly match following the EA Ligue 1 preseason tournament, which Marseille won. The game was an opportunity for a lot of younger D.C. United players to gain some minutes with the senior team and marked the Black-and-Red debut for D.C. United’s newest signing, midfielder Gordon Wild.
The beginning of the game featured a lot of back-and-forth, with Marseille creating more substantial chances. In the 24th minute, they created a beautiful opportunity when one player passed the ball with his backheel and Morgan Sanson beat D.C. United goalkeeper Chris Seitz. But Sanson went too close to the line and his shot bounced off the crossbar. Moments later, Marseille got a corner kick and sent the ball into the box. Marley Ake took a shot that Seitz blocked and bounced off the crossbar. Valere Germain had a chance on the follow-up but slipped before he could tap the ball in.
Shortly after those two chances, Chris Durkin took down Ake in the box and the referee awarded Marseille a penalty. Kevin Strootman took the shot and sent Seitz the wrong way. Marseille took a 1-0 lead.
D.C. United got a goal back just before the end of the first half. A corner kick went into the box and Quincy Amarikwa went flying through the air, getting his head on it. It sailed into the back of the net and the scoreline was 1-1 at the half.
Marseille escalated things early in the second half. In the 48th minute, Nemanja Radonjic stormed down the field and slotted the ball past Seitz for an easy goal. Just four minutes later, they added another goal off the foot of Dimitri Payet. And three minutes later, they added yet another goal. A cross went in front of goal Boura Sarr slotted it in. In the 57th minute, Maxime Lopez sent another shot past Seitz. Less than fifteen minutes into the second half, D.C. United was down 5-1.
The game calmed down after that. Marseille created a couple of more shots on goal, but Seitz stepped up to defend them. The Black-and-Red tried to create some opportunities going down the field, but weren’t able to get any solid looks at goal. In the 81st minute, the Black-and-Red got a shot and it nearly rolled past Marseille goalkeeper Steve Mandanda, but he got his fingertips on it and pushed it out for a corner kick. On the corner, Amarikwa got his head on it, but again Mandanda was able to keep the ball out with his fingertips.
In the 83rd minute, Marseille earned their sixth goal of the night. They sent a cross into the box and Florian Chabrolle got his foot on the end of it, sending it past Seitz. Moments later, Sarr launched a rocket from inside the box to earn Marseille’s seventh goal of the night. In the 89th minute, the French side added on one more, this time at the feet of Saif-Eddine Khahoui.
In the end, Marseille won the match 8-1. It was a rough night for the Black-and-Red, but good experience for the younger players and a memorable experience for both sides.
