Marseille 1-1 Atalanta: Mbemba stunner ensures first leg ends level

Chancel Mbemba's stunning equaliser cancelled out Gianluca Scamacca's early effort as Marseille and Atalanta drew 1-1 in their UEFA Europa League semi-final opener.

Match in brief: All square after entertaining first leg

Gianluca Scamacca celebrates putting Atalanta aheadGetty Images

Atalanta, who cruised to a 3-0 victory at Anfield in the quarter-finals, soon settled into their stride in France and took a deserved lead when Scamacca collected Teun Koopmeiners' precise pass before drilling a low, right-footed shot into the far corner.

Marseille responded well, however, and restored parity through an unlikely source. A clever corner routine was worked to the edge of the penalty area, where Chancel Mbemba was lurking with intent. The centre-back took a touch and, with Atalanta's defenders backing off, curled a sumptuous effort into the far corner via the inside of the post.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, the Europa League's all-time top goalscorer, went close to completing the turnaround either side of half-time, but the Gabonese striker dragged a low, left-footed shot wide of the far post late in the first period before firing straight at Atalanta goalkeeper Juan Musso early in the second.

Ismaïla Sarr's close-range finish was disallowed for offside and substitute Azzedine Ounahi rattled the top of the post as Marseille pushed for a second goal, but Aleksei Miranchuk almost snatched a late winner for the visitors with a rasping drive that whistled narrowly wide of Pau López's left-hand post.

Andy Scott, match reporter

It was an open and entertaining contest, but a 1-1 draw means this tie remains wide open going into next week's second leg. Marseille will be pleased with the way they reacted after going behind, but you wonder if they will live to regret missing some good chances to win the game on the night.

Aleksei Miranchuk almost scored a late winner for AtalantaGetty Images

Reaction

Jordan Veretout, Marseille midfielder: "We want to win everything, of course, and I think we could have done a bit better tonight. But Atalanta are a really good side and we thwarted them. We showed them what we are capable of and we saw their weaknesses. They were wary of us during the game, so it is encouraging for us. The chance is there for us to get to the final."

Jean-Louis Gasset, Marseille coach: "I am not completely satisfied because we had two or three chances to win the match 2-1. Then we would have been satisfied. But it is only half-time in the tie and we are going to go and give everything in Italy. We saw tonight that we could be a danger to them."

Ademola Lookman, Atalanta forward: "We got off to a good start with a good goal to put us 1-0 up, but then they got their goal. It was a pretty even game. They had chances and we had chances, but 1-1 away from home is a positive result. In the next game, we will look to hopefully be in the final."

Gian Piero Gasperini, Atalanta coach: "For us it is a good result, obviously, to come away undefeated from a very difficult stadium and against a strong team. We will have home advantage in the second leg but we will have to be very wary of Marseille on the counterattack. We will need to play a quality game, especially in attack, but we will have our supporters behind us and we can do better than we did tonight."

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang went close on several occasionsGetty Images

Key stats

• Scamacca's opener was his 16th goal of the season in all competitions, and sixth in the Europa League this term.
• The striker is the fourth Italian player to score more than five goals in a single Europa League campaign, after Giuseppe Rossi (11), Ciro Immobile (eight) and Mario Balotelli (six).
• Mbemba has now scored more European goals for Marseille (six) than any other defender, surpassing Taye Taiwo's haul of five.
• Marseille are without a win in eight games against Italian opposition (D3 L5), having won four of their previous seven.
• Atalanta are unbeaten in their last 12 Europa League away matches (W7 D5), qualifying included, their most recent loss coming in 2018 against Dortmund.

Line-ups

Marseille: Pau López; Clauss (Merlin 65), Mbemba, Balerdi, Murillo (Ounahi 72); Harit (Ndiaye 72), Veretout, Kondogbia; Sarr (Moumbagna 65), Aubameyang, Luis Henrique

Atalanta: Musso; Scalvini, Gjimshiti, Kolašinac (Pašalić 16); Zappacosta (Hateboer 85), De Roon, Éderson, Ruggeri; Koopmeiners; De Ketelaere (Miranchuk 84), Scamacca (Lookman 59)

Destination: Dublin

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The second leg takes place in Bergamo on Thursday 9 May.

The aggregate winners will be the nominal home team against Roma or Leverkusen in the final in Dublin on 22 May.