OM says "thank you Aubameyang!", coach Roberto De Zerbi hopes to keep Adrien Rabiot

The crisis hit Marseille even before autumn. The league has been back on track for eight days, and OM is in the thick of it, after several days of talking more about fighting than football and wondering if there is a future without Adrien Rabiot.

Marseille coach Roberto De Zerbi himself seems to be having trouble answering this question. After assuring everyone on Friday that there was "no other way out" than the permanent dismissal of Rabiot and Jonathan Rowe after their "bar fight" last week in Rennes, he opened the door on Saturday to a possible reconciliation.

"I haven't spoken about it yet with Pablo Longoria or Medhi Benatia. But even if he made a mistake, I hope, not only for the value of the player, but also for that of the person, that there are the conditions to repair things," De Zerbi declared at a press conference.

"The will to repair must be everyone's. We have to evaluate a lot of things on a human level. But I'm a good person, and so is Adrien. Sometimes you have to take a step back with intelligence and humility," the OM coach also explained.

open door?

Rabiot's return to the Marseille squad would be a spectacular twist in a case that has already seen plenty of them. Contacted by AFP on Saturday evening, the player's mother and agent, Véronique Rabiot, and their lawyer, however, did not immediately respond, nor did the OM management.

In the mixed zone, the players also left the door open. "Adri is someone I really like, and it's true that he helped us a lot last season. We don't know what the future holds. It will be a decision for the coach and the management," said youngster Bilal Nadir, one of the main protagonists of Marseille's victory on Saturday.

Because there was indeed a match. And OM, sure of nothing and especially not of its worrying defensive sector, can thank Aubameyang. In the 13th minute, the Gabonese hit the post after a superb pass from CJ Egan-Riley. And five minutes later, he won a penalty, converted by Mason Greenwood (1-0, 18th).

In the 25th minute, it was Aubameyang who doubled the lead again, scoring with a beautiful volley from a corner taken by Greenwood (2-0): the first goal and first somersault of this second Marseille sequence for the still young "Aubam" at 36 years old. Last time, he scored 30.

OM were leading, certainly, but Paris FC had been dangerous, notably with a header from Willem Geubbels on the outside of the post (5th) or a beautiful shot from Vincent Marchetti, which went very wide (19th).

make way for young people

Even in front, OM were on a knife edge and it was another true Marseillais who proved it, the talented Ilan Kebbal, who scored a superb strike to bring the promoted Parisian side back to 2-1 (28th).

Then, shortly after the restart, Moses Simon froze the Vélodrome by taking advantage of a great pass from the same Kebbal and a still deficient alignment from Leonardo Balerdi (58th, 2-2).

There were then a few shivers, a few whistles, then more and more, until Aubameyang saved the day: on a poor Parisian clearance, the Marseille striker took advantage of good pressure from substitute Nadir to score (3-2, 73rd).

The youngsters then entered the scene and another good move from Nadir allowed Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, who had missed a lot until then, to score the goal for 4-2 with a perfect strike (81st). Three minutes later, Greenwood missed a penalty won by Robinio Vaz, who consoled himself with the goal for 5-2 (90+6), celebrated with his young friends.

Before Lyon, nothing is perfect, nothing is settled. But OM has three points and, at least, a sharp attack. That's something.