Andre Dede Ayew made sure to get on the scoring sheet for Marseille on the final day of the French Ligue 1 but it was to no avail as the former champions failed to make it to any continental club competition for next season.
It was even a heart-breaking ending for his younger brother, Jordan Ayew whose side, Sochaux were relegated at the end of the season.
Marseille missed out on Europa League football despite beating Guingamp 1-0 on the final day of the Ligue 1 season.
The French champions in the 2009-10 season, have played European football every season since missing out in 2004-05, and knew they had to win and hope fifth-placed Lyon would stumble at Nice.
But with Remi Garde's side winning 1-0 themselves, it meant matters at the Stade Velodrome were largely redundant with Marseille guaranteed sixth place no matter what they did.
Andre’s eighth goal of the season was enough to ensure Marseille at least kept their part of the bargain, but it could not disguise what has been a disappointing season.
Six minutes after the restart the mid fielder got the goal Marseille deserved, heading home after good work from Mathieu Valbuena, who skipped past two men before sending an inch-perfect cross into the box.
Ayew almost bagged a second in the closing stages, but his powerful unmarked header was saved brilliantly by Samassa.
Jordan’s Sochaux were hammered 3-0 at home by Evian TG in the deciding final game of the season to seal their return to Ligue 2.
The younger Ayew, who went to Sochaux on loan from Marseille, was left in tatters as Evian proved too strong for them to handle even before their home fans.
