Magnificent Marseille overcome Dortmund
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
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Olympique de Marseille 3-0 Borussia Dortmund
André Ayew scored two and Loïc Rémy the other as the French side cemented their place at the top of Group F with a second win.
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Olympique de Marseille produced a counterattacking masterclass in southern France to see off Borussia Dortmund and consolidate their position at the top of Group F.
Didier Deschamps' team may have been playing at home but they spent long periods defending against their ambitious and skilful opponents. Indeed, had it not been for an inspired Steve Mandanda in goal, Mario Götze might have registered a hat-trick – and when the teenager did beat OM's No1 he was denied by the upright.
For their part, the Ligue 1 outfit expertly capitalised on Dortmund's defensive frailties, André Ayew opening the scoring on 20 minutes and then completing the win from the penalty spot after Loïc Rémy had added a second on 62 minutes. The performance was slightly soured by the sending-off of substitute Jordan Ayew late on after picking up a second booking, ruling him out of the visit of Arsenal FC on 19 October, when Dortmund travel to Olympiacos FC seeking their first win.
The Bundesliga champions dominated the early exchanges and Mandanda had already saved at Götze's feet when the German international broke clear again on 19 minutes, this time jinking inside Nicolas N'Koulou and seeing his low shot brilliantly saved by the goalkeeper with his legs.
The hosts' attempts to counterattack had been ineffectual until a slip from Neven Subotić offered Rémy the chance to play André Ayew in. The Ghanaian still had much to do but wasted no time in controlling the ball and unleashing a superb low shot into the corner. Roman Weidenfeller had been helpless on that occasion, although the Dortmund custodian reacted well to prevent the same player from scoring in similar fashion nine minutes before the interval.
The yellow shirts were pouring forward once more at the start of the second period. Götze had two glorious chances in the space of a minute, first turning Kevin Grosskreutz's cross against the post, then shooting straight at Mandanda after being played through by Robert Lewandowski. Rémy offered his team-mates some welcome respite by scoring a brilliant second after the hour, the striker pouncing on Mats Hummels' back-header and crashing an unstoppable volley inside the near post.
The French side had been clinical, and they ruthlessly added a third on 69 minutes. André Ayew released Valbuena and when he cut the ball back to Rémy, Sebastian Kehl's foul presented the scorer of the opener the chance to power home his second from the spot. There was still time for Götze to trouble Mandanda once more and for substitute Lucas Barrios to head against the bar as Marseille somehow hung on to their clean sheet.