Toulouse are into the Coupe de France semi-finals after edging Marseille 4-3 on penalties, the quarter-final finishing 2-2 at the Orange Vélodrome last night. Habib Beye’s first serious tilt at silverware as Marseille coach ends here, while Carles Martinez keeps the cup dream alive for a side sitting outside the Ligue 1 spotlight yet proving ruthless in knockout habits.
Marseille made the ideal start in their 4-2-3-1. Mason Greenwood converted a second-minute penalty and immediately took charge of the right half-space, dragging Toulouse out of their 5-4-1 line with every touch. The early lead, though, did not bring control. Eleven minutes later Yann Gboho punished loose defending with the equaliser, proof that Toulouse were happy to absorb pressure then pounce whenever Marseille’s rest defence frayed.
The pattern rarely shifted. Beye wanted the double pivot of Geoffrey Kondogbia and Arthur Vermeeren to dictate, yet it was Kondogbia’s willingness to step higher that carved out Marseille’s best moment: his pass split the visiting defence for Igor Paixão to restore the lead on 56 minutes. Beye immediately replaced Vermeeren with academy product Bilal Nadir in search of fresh legs, only to see the tie levelled almost at once. Aron Dønnum delivered from the flank, Charlie Cresswell finished on 60 minutes, and Martinez had his reward for instructing his wing-backs to spring forward whenever Marseille’s counter-press lagged.
From there Toulouse played the percentages. Cristian Cásseres Jr and Pape Diop shut down the channels, Dønnum kept feeding breaks, and Gerónimo Rulli was forced into four saves despite Marseille owning 62 percent of the ball. Beye’s response at the break, swapping out the already booked Himad Abdelli for Ethan Nwaneri, gave Marseille more craft but not enough incision. Kjetil Haug in the Toulouse goal faced just three efforts on target all night.
Penalties exposed Marseille’s fragile nerves. Greenwood and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored their kicks, Nayef Aguerd did the same, yet Leonardo Balerdi and Nwaneri both failed. Toulouse were otherwise perfect, with Dønnum, Gboho, Djibril Sidibé and Pape Diop converting around Cásseres’s lone miss to clinch progression. Martinez’s players gathered together with an assurance that contrasted with Marseille’s deflated core, a telling snapshot of the night.
Key figures
- Possession: Marseille 62 percent, Toulouse 38 percent
- Shots on target: Marseille 3, Toulouse 6
- Kondogbia: 1 assist, 5 tackles, 7 duels won
- Dønnum: 1 assist, 4 key passes
- Rulli: 4 saves, kept Marseille alive in normal time
Tactically the night underlined a gulf in clarity. Marseille’s back line of Timothy Weah, Balerdi, Aguerd and Facundo Medina failed to adjust to Toulouse’s wing-backs, particularly after Warren Kamanzi replaced Cresswell and shored up the right. Greenwood’s eight duels won and three chances created showed how much he tried to drag his side through, yet Aubameyang was starved of service and Paixão’s withdrawal on 90 minutes removed a key out-ball before the shoot-out.
Marseille now have to regroup ahead of a Ligue 1 push where European qualification is non-negotiable, and Beye must decide whether to persist with the current double pivot or reintroduce a more progressive interior. Toulouse, meanwhile, can start plotting a semi-final where Martinez’s meticulous 5-4-1, remarkable for its balance between aggression and composure, will test anyone left in the draw.
