Payet strikes as Marseille win

Dimitri Payet continued his excellent start in a Marseille shirt with another goal in the 2-0 victory over Evian on Saturday.

Dimitri Payet continued his excellent start in a Marseille shirt with his third goal in his opening two Ligue 1 games to help his new side ease past Evian 2-0 on Saturday. Payet, a summer signing from Lille, became only the fifth player to score a brace on his debut as Marseille beat Guingamp 3-1 last week and he was on the scoresheet again today, slotting home a low left-foot shot just after the hour mark. Andre-Pierre Gignac, who also opened his account for the new season last week, broke the deadlock in the 15th minute as Marseille made Evian pay for missing a host of chances. It was the visitors who started in a strong fashion, with forward Kevin Berigaud's first-time shot from distance forcing Steve Mandanda into action, while the Marseille goalkeeper was also called upon to tip away Nicolas Benezet's effort from just outside the box. They were to prove timely saves as Marseille took the lead with their first real sight at goal. Rod Fanni delivered a good cross toward Gignac on the edge of the area and the France international went past Ghana defender Jonathan Mensah before firing past Bertrand Laquait. Elie Baup's men could not capitalise on the goal and Nicolas Nkoulou nearly equalised before half-time with his strike only just going over the crossbar. Souleymane Diawara's point blank header was excellently saved by Laquait as Marseille started the second half in decent fashion. Payet was then freed by Mathieu Valbuena and the Marseille man dribbled past the unfortunate Mensah before finishing low past Laquait. It had been a forgettable day for Evian but they set up a thrilling finale after Mandanda was forced to claw away Clarck N'Sikulu's low right-footed drive.