Marseille show resilience to beat PSG

Olympique Marseille put a trying week behind them in the best possible fashion on tonight with a 3-0 victory at home over Paris Saint-Germain that put a sizeable dent in their bitter rivals' title hopes. OM's UEFA Champions League ambitions were compromised by a loss to Olympiacos in midweek, before Andre-Pierre Gignac was dropped over a row with coach Didier Deschamps, but they stopped the rot to condemn PSG to a third league loss. Loic Remy broke the deadlock early on and with PSG's expensively assembled team floundering in defence and toothless in attack, Marseille took full advantage through second-half goals from Morgan Amalfitano and Andre Ayew. PSG's defeat allowed Montpellier to hold on to top spot in Ligue 1, while Marseille climbed one place up to ninth, seven points below the top three. The away side had started brightly at Stade Velodrome, but Marseille took the lead from their first sight of goal in the ninth minute. Cesar Azpilicueta was given time to cross from the right wing and his centre was met by an imperious downward header from Remy, who claimed his seventh goal of the season. PSG's only chance of note in the first half saw Mohamed Sissoko drill a 25-yard half-volley against the post with Steve Mandanda beaten. OM lost Remy to an ankle injury, but they were given few problems by PSG, whose record signing Javier Pastore struggled to impose himself, delighting the home fans with some uncharacteristically clumsy touches. The Argentinian was taken off before the hour, along with a furious Kevin Gameiro, but their replacements Mathieu Bodmer and Mevlut Erding had been on the field for a matter of minutes before the hosts doubled their lead. Amalfitano picked Blaise Matuidi's pocket in midfield and then gathered a pass from Remy's replacement Jordan Ayew before finding the bottom-left corner with an unerring drive. PSG's misery was compounded in the 82nd minute, with Amalfitano crossing for Andre Ayew to find the net with a header that flicked off defender Marcos Ceara before trickling past Salvatore Sirigu.