High-flying Olympique de Marseille picked up their fifth straight victory on Tuesday as Ligue 1 top scorer Andre-Pierre Gignac claimed a brace in a 5-0 thrashing of Stade de Reims.
Gignac could even afford the luxury of a missed eighth-minute penalty, before scoring two first-half goals, while Ghana international Andre Ayew also struck twice in a one-sided affair at the Stade Auguste Delaune.
The win takes Marcelo Bielsa’s in-form side three points clear at the top of Ligue 1 ahead of a busy evening yesterday and before AS Saint-Etienne host Girondins de Bordeaux today, with both teams tied for second.
Photo: AFP
“It’s very satisfying to get five wins in a row and we did it in style as well,” said Gignac, who also scored twice in the 3-0 win over Stade Rennais at the weekend. “Obviously, it’s been a good day and now we can look forward to a big match against Saint-Etienne on Sunday. We want to keep things going and go on to have a great season.”
Gignac, who was left out of Didier Deschamps’ World Cup squad that reached the quarter-finals in Brazil, gave the national coach food for thought as he took his tally to eight goals in seven matches.
France are preparing to host Euro 2016 and qualify automatically, but have preparation matches against Portugal on Oct. 11 and Armenia three days later.
Photo: AFP
French-born Ayew, who helped Ghana finish runners-up to Egypt at the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations, put the result beyond doubt seven minutes after halftime, before an audacious back-heeled goal on the hour mark added further gloss.
Marseille, who won the last of their nine French titles in 2009-2010 under Deschamps, put the icing on the cake with 16 minutes remaining when Gianelli Imbula celebrated a rare goal, much to the delight of the traveling faithful.
“It’s a fair result because we were serious and played in the way we wanted too,” Bielsa said. “Despite the result, we sacrificed a lot against opponents who never lost their attitude and didn’t give up.”
“It was a really great match, we were superior, but also consistent and advancing. We attacked well and defended well, and a big result like this will give us confidence,” the Argentine said. “Of course, it’s too early to talk about the title and we just have to keep going in this way without jumping to conclusions about the title. We will know that at the end of the season.”
Reims remain on seven points, with two wins from seven outings, and lie just one point above the relegation zone.
In Tuesday’s late match, Toulouse picked up their first away win of the season by beating Stade Rennais 3-0. The win takes the southern-based club up to seventh place in the table, while Rennes slipped to ninth.
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