Marseille vs Liverpool
Match pulse
OLMAttacking pressure by 5 minutes
Who won: Liverpool 2-1
Liverpool beat Marseille 2-1 on Tuesday, September 16, 2008 at Orange Vélodrome. Goals for Marseille: Lorik Cana (23'). Goals for Liverpool: Steven Gerrard (26', 32' pen).
Play by play
- 94'
Right, well. Decent game, and Liverpool can count themselves lucky to come away with all three points. Carragher, Reina and Gerrard were outstanding but Marseille caused them bother and should have had a couple more goals. A good start for the Reds though.
- 93'
Niang! He's missed a glorious chance! A brilliant lay-off header from Samassa tees up Niang and his powerful shot rebounds off Pepe Reina's right foot and with that the game is won!!
- 92'
Niang gets round the back and squares it for no-one, then Cheyrou nods across goal but Reina clutches the ball to his chest before it reached Samassa who would have had a tap in.
- 91'
Three minutes added....
- 89'
Chance! Niang connects from Ziani's cross but glances his header wide from seven yards, claiming that Arbeloa had given him a nudge.It wasn't a pen though. Just score instead fella.
- 88'
Benayoun streaks away and though Keane was screaming for it at the back post, the winger heads for the corner flag, displaying mind-boggling negativity. There are only two minutes left though so fair play I suppose.
- 86'
Dirk Kuyt comes off and Robbie Keane is going to get a full four minutes of hardcore Marseille-style Champions League action.
- 84'
Lovely feet from Reira to slip out of a congested midfield and find Kuyt but he's confronted with too many options for his tiny little brain to cope with and fluffs it.
- 83'
Taiwo burts into the area and charges into Arbeloa looking for a penalty. He'll have to settle for a corner though.
- 82'
Marseille look like they've run out of puff a bit now.
- 80'
Chelsea are 3-0 up. Malouda this time.
- 78'
Now Babel hits the post from a tight angle inside the box but the flag was up for offside anyhoo.
- 77'
Up the other end, Taiwo shows nice skill to fashion a shooting chance but his effort lacks power. Strange for a man who has had one of his shot's clocked at 82mph.
- 75'
Babel misses a great chance to wrap it up. Reira skins Bonnart, crosses and as the ball breaks from Benayoun and Zubar's challenge, Babel smacks it against Mandanda's arms from four yards out. Great save!
- 74'
Final OM change, Mamadou Samassa is on for Kone, who has been decent.
- 74'
Cana now tries a punt from distance which was never going to trouble Reina, who has had one of his better nights.
- 73'
Its Cana's turn to cross, but Reina stands firm.
- 72'
Nearly! Niang drifts left and fires in a cross which Ziani meets but can't keep down. Tough chance, but a chance nonetheless.
- 71'
So, 20 minutes left for Marseille to find an equaliser they definitely deserve. Can they do it?
- 69'
Two-goal hero Stevie G is off and Yossi Benayoun is on.
- 68'
Valbuena's effort is straight into the wall. A pretty poor effort all round Mathieu.
- 66'
Niang wins a free-kick 25 yards out, left of centre. Good chance for OM.
- 65'
A lovely move from Marseille, Bonnart slides a ball down the right side of the box, Kone back-heels for Ziani but his shot was always rising. Smashing play though. Marseille haven't given this up yet.
- 64'
Torres is off and Albert Riera is coming on.
- 63'
Babel breaks sharply but delays his ball for Gerrard, who can't hide his disgust. Then Valbuena hits a long ball for Kone to chase but Reina is out promptly again.
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