Bielsa: Marseille dominated Monaco

Marseille’s Marcelo Bielsa remained positive despite watching his side lose to Monaco, missing a chance to pull away from Paris Saint-Germain.

Monaco triumphed 1-0 at home on Sunday but Bielsa – Marseille’s coach – was keen to highlight the amount of goal-scoring opportunities his side had compared to Leonardo Jardim’s hosts.

Bielsa also dismissed Monaco’s level compared to other title challengers such as PSG and Lyon, plus the Argentine coach claimed the principality club only created chances to score when Marseille made mistakes.

Monaco triumphed thanks to Bernardo Silva’s second-half strike with the Portuguese midfielder bursting into the box completely unmarked to score, following Nabil Dirar and Anthony Martial’s fine lead-up work on the right.

“We dominated the game by creating five or six opportunities in front of goal,” Bielsa said, according to Marseille’s website.

“The defensive problems were rare.

“Dangerous actions of our opponents come from individual errors on our part. From the moment they scored, we could not find a way to get over their defence.”

With second-placed PSG having also lost on Sunday, Marseille missed the opportunity to move four points clear of the defending champions.

It allowed third-placed Lyon – who defeated Caen 3-0 on Friday – to finish the weekend just two points behind Marseille.

But while Sunday’s loss hindered Marseille’s title bid, Bielsa denied he was angry.

“The opposition of the day [Monaco] was not as strong as that against Paris or Lyon,” he said.

“It’s a game we should have won. When the game is developed, it was a lower level than in Paris and Lyon.

“I’m not upset. Anger occurs when there is no will on the part of my players. The team was just a little worse today.

“There was no depth. This is a reason to look for solutions but not get upset. My team is one of the one that has the most goals this season.”