Marseille picked up the first silverware of the French season after an incredible finale to their Champions Trophy game with Lille saw them prevail 5-4 through a 95th-minute penalty. League and French Cup winners last year after a 56-year trophy drought, Lille led 3-1 with five minutes remaining but saw Marseille draw level through goals from Jeremy Morel and Loic Remy. Andre Ayew put Marseille ahead for the first time in the match with a penalty on the stroke of full-time, but Lille hit back immediately with a header from new signing Marko Basa.
The match in the Moroccan city of Tangiers looked set for penalties, but Jordan Ayew won another penalty after tumbling theatrically in the Lille box and his elder brother Andre kept his cool to give Marseille victory and complete his hat-trick. The Champions Trophy, played overseas for the fourth year in a row, usually pits the league champions against the cup winners, but Lille’s double triumph last May obliged Marseille, second last season, to provide the opposition.
Despite having made plain his desire to leave the club, Argentine playmaker Lucho Gonzalez started for Marseille in place of the injured Mathieu Valbuena. New recruits Morel, Alou Diarra and Morgan Amalfitano were also named in the Marseille starting XI, with Lille coach Rudi Garcia handing starts to his
new signings Basa, Benoit Pedretti and Dimitri Payet.
