Beaten Marseille made to wait for last 16 spot
Reuters - Wednesday 23 November 2011, 22:07
Olympique
Marseille were made to wait for a place in the last 16 of the
Champions League when they were beaten 1-0 at home by Olympiakos
Piraeus on Wednesday.
The 1993 European champions lie second in Group F on seven
points with one game remaining after substitute Giannis
Fetfatzidis's 82nd-minute strike left them with seven points.
Olympiakos will host group winners Arsenal in the last round
while Marseille will travel to fourth-placed Borussia Dortmund.
Second-half substitute Fetfatzidis fired home with a low
crossed shot after Olympiakos yet again beat the offside trap to
give his team a deserved win.
On a mild night in an half-empty Stade Velodrome, Marseille
made a shaky start.
In the 10th minute, their defence was caught napping when
Olof Mellberg headed home from a free-kick, only for the goal to
be ruled out offside.
The warning did not exactly spur the home side into action
as Marseille failed to create a clear-cut chance while the Greek
side looked dangerous on the break.
It took a couple of brilliant saves by Steve Mandanda to
deny Kevin Mirallas and Holebas in quick succession after a
swift counter attack left the Marseille defence in duisshambles.
Didier Deschamps's side seemed rejuvenated after the
re-start although Olympiakos continued to threaten.
Mirallas once again beat the offside trap but, once again,
was denied by Mandanda, who tipped away the Belgium striker's
crossed low shot at the hour.
Marseille had their best chance 20 minutes from time when
France midfielder Alou Diarra had a downward header blocked by
Balasz Megyeri.
Substitutes Andre-Pierre Gignac and Lucho Gonzalez did not
help Marseille get any better up front as the hosts intead
relied on ugly defending to keep their chances alive.
"We failed to make it simple in the first half. In the
second half, they sat back and waited for us and got us on a
counter attack," Marseille defender Souleymane Diawara told
French TV channel Canal Plus.
"We did not play a European Cup game, we played a friendly
game. There was no aggression from our side.
"If we want to qualify we will have to show something else.
If we play like tonight, we should not bother to travel to
Dortmund."