Stephane Mbia Left Frustrated By Olympique de Marseille’s Draw Against Toulouse

Saturday evening proved to be another frustrating affair for Olympique de Marseille at Stade Velodrome, where they could only muster a 1-1 draw with Toulouse, and Stephane Mbia spoke freely of the frustration the team suffered but also about their eagerness to put the result behind them when they face FC Zurich in the Champions League on Tuesday.

OM seemed to have a great advantage in Saturday’s game as early as the eighth minute, when visiting goalkeeper Yohann Pele was dismissed for pulling down Mamadou Niang just outside the box. However, Toulouse struck via a stunning Moussa Sissoko free kick and then proved obstinate as Olivier Blondel in the visiting goal excelled. When the visiting goalkeeper did make a mistake, Marseille pounced, with Kone crossing for Brandao to unconventionally knock home a levelling goal.

“We're all happy with the level of play that we used to come back,” Mbia told the club’s official website. “Unfortunately, even if it has brought many opportunities, we did not take our chance to kill the game.

“It is nice to be talented and have the best players, but you must have a little luck and we failed. We'll have to use [our experience] to advance and progress.”

The next hurdle that Marseille have to clear is a home encounter against Zurich, whom they only just managed to edge 1-0 when the sides last met.

“The coach has warned we must now turn to Tuesday's game, which will be very important, and we need to win at home to forget Toulouse. We must not lament nor lower our heads.”

Didier Deschamps indicated that he was not displeased with Marseille’s performance at the weekend, explaining to Ligue 1’s official website, “I've got no reason to criticise my players. We could have hoped to have been a bit cleaner technically, because this was a game we could have won. If we keep playing like this then we'll move forward.”

OM lie a disappointing seventh placed in Ligue 1, seven points behind leaders Girondins de Bordeaux, although they do have a game in hand.

Robin Bairner, Goal.com