Marseille vs Reims. French Ligue 1.
Stade Velodrome.
Sunday 26 May 2013 23:56, UK
Marseille huffed and puffed but brought the curtain down on their season with a goalless draw against lowly Reims.
Marseille huffed and puffed but brought the curtain down on their season with a goalless draw against lowly Reims. With second place already secured and Reims certain of Ligue 1 survival, nothing but pride was on the line at the Velodrome. Marseille did their best to sign off with a home win but failed to convert a string of chances as it ended in a stalemate. Visiting goalkeeper Kossi Agassa was certainly kept busy, however. In the 10th minute he managed to block a shot from Joey Barton - playing the final match of his loan spell from QPR - despite a deflection off Aissa Mandi. He then made a fine save to keep out Andre-Pierre Gignac's powerful shot after Mathieu Valbuena flicked on Jeremy Morel's long throw-in. Grzegorz Krychowiak got in a crucial block to turn Gignac's next effort away for a corner, and the striker was denied once more in the 26th minute when Agassa was wise to his attempted lob. Gignac turned provider just before the break, but Andre Ayew's low drive was again met with a firm hand by Agassa. There were further chances for Marseille in the second half, but Ayew shot wide after being played in by Barton and Gignac's snap-shot was blocked by Agassa after good build-up play from Valbuena. There was time for one final save in injury time when Agassa again denied Ayew and the season ended with something of a whimper.
