Marseille, France, Sept 29: Two goals from Ghana winger Andre Ayew and outstanding saves from Steve Mandanda helped Marseille beat Borussia Dortmund 3-0 Wednesday and keep a perfect record in Group F of the Champions League.
Ayew fired into the bottom corner to put the hosts ahead in the 20th minute.
France forward Loic Remy intercepted a header from Mats Hummels to bury the ball between the near post and goalkeeper Roman Weidenfeller in the 62nd for a 2-0 lead.
Andre Ayew converted a penalty to complete the rout in the 69th, though Marseille was reduced to 10 men when Jordan Ayew was dismissed for diving—his second bookable offense—in injury time.
Marseille has a two-point lead over Arsenal, which beat Olympiakos 2-1 in Group F's other match.
“The goal tonight was to prevent them from playing their game by being aggressive,” Marseille midfielder Alou Diarra told Canal Plus television. “Beating the German champion 3-0 is very positive. I hope it will give us a lot of confidence for the upcoming matches.”
Marseille next hosts Arsenal on Oct. 19 while Dortmund visits Olympiakos.
The French club created the first chance in the eight minute, Andre Ayew outjumping Lukasz Piszczek to head over the bar from Mathieu Valbuena's corner.
Dortmund midfielder Mario Goetze outpaced the Marseille defense the following minute to go clean through on goal but Mandanda quickly came off his line to knock away the ball.
Goetze beat the offside trap in the 19th to collect a long ball over the top and cut inside Marseille center back Nicolas N'Koulou, but Mandanda stopped the German teenager's close-range shot with his legs.
Marseille went ahead, however, when Andre Ayew unleashed a drive from the edge of the box.
Dortmund again lacked the finishing touch in the 28th when Marseille failed to clear a corner but Hummels volleyed over the bar from 15 yards.
Marseille nearly doubled the lead in the 36th after Valbuena danced through the Dortmund defense to play Ayew in, but Weidenfeller palmed away the Ghana winger's shot.
Dortmund pressed higher up the pitch in the second half, forcing further good chances. In the 50th, midfielder Kevin Grosskreutz crossed for Goetze, who hit the post from five yards, the ball bouncing back into Mandanda's arms.
A minute later, Goetze cut inside Marseille fullback Cesar Azpilicueta to go clean through on goal but was again denied by Mandanda.
Marseille scored its second in the 62nd against the run of play. Remy capitalized on a defensive mistake from Hummels, chesting down the ball to fire into the bottom corner.
Remy was then fouled by Sebastian Kehl on a counterattack and Andre Ayew sent Weidenfeller the wrong way for a 3-0 lead.
“After we conceded the first goal, we lost some of our organization,” Dortmund coach Juergen Klopp told the UEFA website. “We allowed them to counterattack more.
“However even though Marseille scored three goals, we had more quality chances than them. Mario Goetze could easily have scored a few goals today and Mats Hummels made one mistake, which we were punished for. Once they scored a third goal, it was all over for us.”
Dortmund kept pushing for a consolation goal but Mandanda made several outstanding saves to keep a clean sheet.
The Marseille goalkeeper tipped away a close-range header from Goetze and parried a long-range free kick from Serbian defender Neven Subotic.
Mandanda was then rescued by the woodwork in the 88th. Paraguay forward Lucas Barrios outjumped Azpilicueta but his header bounced back off the bar.
“We had some luck defensively, even though Steve (Mandanda) played a big role too,” Marseille coach Didier Deschamps said. “There are matches when they can shoot as much as they want and there will be the woodwork or a save.”
Marseille substitute Jordan Ayew, Andre's brother, was sent off in stoppage time for picking up a second yellow card. AP
