BARTON TURNED MATCH

The manager of Olympique de Marseille, Elie Baup, has said that the red card shown to Joey Barton in the last match against Nancy was the turning point of the match.

Barton was shown two yellow cards in the space of five minutes in the second half of the match against Nancy and the English midfielder had to go out of the field. The score was 0-0 till that time. But, after the departure of Barton, the Marseille team came under pressure and eventually lost the match by 0-1.

Talking to the reporters in the press conference after the match, Baup said, “Both the teams were playing well till that time, but, after Barton was sent off, we were left with only 10 players and things started getting difficult for us.”

“I think Barton was a bit unlucky. On the first occasion, he was shown the yellow card without a foul. I don’t think there was a foul there. On the second occasion, he was just trying to take the ball in his possession. So, both his yellow cards were not fully justified.”

Barton who was also present in the press conference said that he was gutted to be sent off at that time. The English midfielder said, “That was a critical time. We were playing well and creating opportunities, but, after being reduced to 10 players, it became difficult for us to attack.”

“I want to apologize to the players of my team. I let them down today. If I had not been sent off, the result of the match might have been different.”

Barton was placed on loan to Marseille at the start of the ongoing season. He has featured for the French club in 9 matches so far, but, he hasn’t scored any goal.