Marseille registered their 12th win of the 2012/2013 Ligue 1 campaign in the Game Week 19 at the expense of AS Saint-Etienne, with Andre Ayew scoring the only goal of the match to send Les Phoceens level on points with Paris Saint-Germain
and http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Olympique-Lyonnais-c40130
Andre Ayew, who is set to depart next month to take part in the African Cup of Nations, scored with a powerful header in the dying moments of the first half to crush Saint-Etienne’s hopes of finishing the year on a winning note in the Week 19 of the Ligue
1. The victory has taken some pressure off from the coach, Elie Baup, who has come under severe criticism in the wake of Marseille’s poor form at home.
Elie Baup is pleased with the win that has taken his side to the top of the table. Only the goal difference is separating top three sides in the French league, and the Marseille boss is delighted at the way his players played at Stade Velodrome to claim
maximum points in the last game of the year.
As expected, both sides played superbly on the pitch and defended well throughout the 90 minutes. Defensively, neither Marseille nor Saint-Etienne allowed opposing forwards to roam freely in their half, and the 1-0 scoreline tells the story itself. It required
a moment of brilliance from http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Ghana-c2905 international, Andre Ayew to settle the score.
And http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Olympique-de-Marseille-c40127 coach has admitted that it was one of the toughest games of the season for his side and Les Phoceens had to play extremely well to get a positive result against Christophe Galtier’s side. The boss has praised the attitude of his
players, who showed great determination to get a positive result against Les Verts. However, the 57-year-old feels that Marseille can still improve a lot and the need is continue playing with consistency in order to achieve club’s objectives this season.
One thing that has helped Marseille to great extent this season is the fact that team has performed well without worrying about their rivals, Paris Saint-Germain and Olympique Lyonnais. Playing without pressure always helps and Les Phoceens are reaping the
reward for their positive mentality.
"We really dug deep to get the three points. It's been a while since we've won here. There are quite a few things to improve, particularly in terms of moving the ball round, especially one-touch passing, but there is a lot of heart. We didn't think about
PSG and OL, we showed courage and self-sacrifice.”
On the other hand, AS Saint-Etienne coach, Christophe Galtier is unable to explain his side’s failure to get something out of the match. The coach feels that Les Verts were unlucky to end up on the losing side and had they been little luckier, the result
would have been different.
“The difference in games is always made in the penalty area. I'm satisfied with what we produced; we just didn't have that precision in the last few metres. We try to have a plan, basing our game on the weaknesses we've seen in our opponent's game.”
As things stand, any one of the top three teams in the French Ligue 1 can end up winning the Championelle. Can Olympique de Marseille win the league title? Yes, they have more than a chance to become the champions of http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/France-c2899, but we have to wait and see.
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