Despite the Olympic theme to the fixture, there was nothing 'faster, higher, stronger' about the first 17 minutes, which didn’t see a single shot from either side, and Gelson Martins’ effort, easily stopped by Jeffrey de Lange, was hardly worth the wait.
That half-chance did nothing to set the game alight, as Marseille enjoyed much of the territory but couldn’t test Stefan Ortega until the final 10 minutes of the half, when the goalkeeper had to be at full stretch to stop Keyliane Abdallah’s powerful effort finding the top corner.
Les Phoceens were made to pay for lacking creativity with three minutes of the first half remaining when Olympiacos took the lead, as Santiago Hezze met Chiquinho’s corner with a powerful header that gave De Lange no chance.
The Greek side thought they had added a quickfire second in added time, but an offside in the build-up ruled out Roman Yaremchuk’s rebound finish.
With none of their previous seven Europa League away matches seeing both teams score, the Thrylos would have been confident as the second half got underway, and further still a few minutes later when Igor Paixao’s effort from 30 yards was stopped by Ortega, but not just before the hour mark when a low centre from Paixao was very nearly turned into his own net by Panagiotis Retsos.
The home side continued to grow in confidence, and only a fine double save from Ortega to deny first Timothy Weah and then the ever-threatening Paixao kept Olympiacos in front.
Despite their recent shortcomings in Europe, Bruno Genesio’s side were protecting a 10-game unbeaten home run in this competition, but as the minutes ticked by, Olympiacos were looking more likely to secure a second crucial 1-0 win in a matter of days after beating rivals Panathinaikos at the weekend.
Armando Gonzalez could have sealed it with two minutes to go as he cut in from the right, but De Lange kept hold of his firm strike. However, one goal was enough for Imanol Alguacil’s team, who have now lost just one of their last 11 in the Europa League. For Marseille, it’s six defeats in their last seven in all competitions.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Stefan Ortega (Olympiacos)
