Marseille win at home despite no fans as LFP punishment comes into action

Stade Velodrome empty as Marseille played Bordeaux - (C) Scoop Nest

Last night Olympique de Marseille won their first home match since Sunday 11th November beating midtable side Bordeaux 1-0 despite having no crowd as the game was played behind closed doors.

This was due to the crowd trouble that saw firecrackers thrown at home players in their last match at Stade Velodrome so the empty crowd was part of the punishment given by the Ligue de Football Professionnel (LFP) while they investigate the issue further.

Coach Rudi Garcia watched the game from the empty stands due to the Frenchman serving the final game of his two-match touchline ban, his punishment for arguing with referee Amaury Delerue as his side lost 2-1 to Lille.

That being said the hosts had a huge advantage handed their way when Bordeaux defender Samuel Kalu was shown a red card for a two-footed tackle on winger Lucas Ocampos in the 25th minute.

Les Phoceens were able to win despite being without new signing Mario Balotelli who scored in their loss to Lille last month. The attacker was unable to feature in this match as it had been rescheduled from a time where the Italian played for fellow french side Nice.

Young defender Boubacar Kamara got the only goal and match winner in the 42nd minute as his header from close range gave the hosts the lead, which was almost doubled on two occasions.

Firstly Morgan Sanson hit the post just before the break, while Bouna Sarr put the ball into the back of the net in stoppage time only for it to be ruled out by VAR.

It’s the second time this season that the French side have had to play in an empty stadium as they were ordered by UEFA to play a home match against Eintracht Frankfurt in the Europa League back in September for similar problems with the clubs conduct.

Garcia was angry that the match was played behind closed doors, he told BBC Sport:

“It’s bad, these matches behind closed doors are horrible. I said it the first time and it was horrible again this time,”

“It’s not football without supporters in the stadium. My suspension is also difficult but the most important thing was the absence of the fans.”

Marseille’s win moves them up to seventh as they continue there hunt for European football. They leapfrogged Stade de Reims, OGC Nice and Stade Rennais in the process while Bordeaux stay 12th in the league.