five-goal marseille power past ael published: thursday 4 october 2012, 23.05cet
olympique de marseille 5-1 ael limassol fc
marseille debutant lucas mendes scored one and set up another before three goals in the last 14 minutes heaped more misery on ael.
lucas mendes marked his olympique de marseille debut with an assist and a goal as the french club hit back to overwhelm ael limassol fc in uefa europa league group c.
having come from two down to draw at fenerbahçe sk on matchday one, om illustrated their powers of recovery once again after falling behind to edwin ouon's 22nd-minute strike. mendes, a left-back signed from brazil's cortiba fc in august, set up rod fanni for the equaliser before heading elie baup's men ahead. late goals from loïc rémy, two, and andré-pierre gignac added gloss to the scoreline.
an effort from rémy had been the only shot in anger from either side prior to ouon stunning the stade vélodrome midway through the first half. the rwandan defender, up for a monteiro corner, displayed instincts more befitting of a striker as he spun in the area and rifled the loose ball high into the net.
the ligue 1 leaders immediately sought an equaliser, elie baup's men desperate not to suffer the same fate as olympique lyonnais last season in losing to cypriot opposition. joey barton had a shot deflected wide, but, from the resulting corner, fanni nodded om level, steering the ball past matias degra after mendes had headed back across goal.
only a smart save from steve mandanda, the goalkeeper thwarting monteiro, kept the hosts on level terms going into the break. it was a stop which would prove pivotal for the unmarked mendes headed om ahead after the hour from substitute mathieu valbuena's corner.
then came the late surge, with rémy making it 3-1 with 14 minutes remaining after his initial effort, from jordan ayew's cross, had been parried by the goalkeeper. gignac curled a shot against the upright but would get his reward a minute from time with a sumptuous volley from a chip over the top by rémy, who then applied coup de grâce.
