By Kwame Boakye
Jordan Ayew was the hero on Saturday as the Ghana international saved his French side Olympique Marseille from a sixth consecutive defeat in all competitions.
Olympique Marseille went into Saturday’s away game against Rennes without a win or draw in their last five games in all competitions. The Ligue 1 side side feared the worst against John Boye’s Rennes as it took only nine minutes for Nelson Oliviera to give the home side the lead.
Jordan Ayew saved his team the embarrassment of another defeat scoring the equalizer in the 16th minute. No other goals were scored in the game as the two first half goals shared the spoils between Rennes and Olympique Marseille. Jordan Ayew played the full game.
Andre Ayew missed the 1-1 draw for Olympique Marseille through suspension. John Boye was not in the Rennes match-day squad as he is still sidelined with an injury.
In the German Bundesliga, Kevin –Prince Boateng had 87 minutes of playing time in a return to birthplace Berlin. Schalke 04 were away to Hertha Berlin as they prepare to travel to London to play Chelsea in the Champions League on Wednesday.
Boateng’s side did not settle for anything less as they scored two goals without reply to win the game 2-0. The win pushed Schalke to fifth position on the league table which could change to seventh at worst as Wolfsburd have a game in hand.
In the Italian Serie A, Kwadwo Asamoah returned to the Juventus squad to play the full game for the Old Ladies after being an unused substitute in midweek.
Parma named Ghanaian player Afriyie Acquah who was an unused substitute in their squad against Juventus.
The Italian Champions won the game by an only goal from former Manchester United player Paul Pogba. Juventus are now second in the Italian league, two points behind Roma.
Sulley Muntari had 69 minutes of playing time as AC Milan were beaten at home by Fiorentina.
In the English Premier League, Michael Essien was not part of the Chelsea squad that were beaten 2-0 away at Newcastle. Derrick Boateng was also an unused substitute as his Fulham side were deafeated 3-1 at home by Premier League Champions Manchester United.
Emmanuel Frimpong was also not named in Arsenal’s match-day squad as the league leaders beat Liverpool 2-0 at the Emirates Stadium.
In the Eredivisie in Netherlands, Christian Atsu’s Vitesse Arnhem won their away game against Ajax. Vitesse scored a late goal in the 90th minute to win by 1-0 which takes them to first position in the league. Atsu played 83 minutes before he was substituted.
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