Gabriel Heinze's superb volley saw Marseille deservedly beat FC Zurich to keep their dreams very much alive.
Defender nets only goal in Switzerland
Gabriel Heinze's superb volley saw Marseille deservedly beat FC Zurich in Switzerland to keep their UEFA Champions League dreams very much alive.
The French side created the better opportunities and Heinze struck in the 69th minute to earn Marseille's first win of the campaign.
The victory means Didier Deschamps' side leapfrog Zurich in the Group C table, with the pair both three points behind joint leaders AC Milan and Real Madrid with three games left to play.
The visitors had the ball in the net in the third minute at the Letzigrund Stadium when Zurich keeper Johnny Leoni could only parry a low shot from Benoit Cheyrou and Brandao headed home the rebound, but he was given offside.
Then in the sixth minute, Cheyrou's 35-yard free-kick from the right missed everyone in the box and flashed wide of Leoni's right post.
At the other end, Alexandre Alphonse just failed to latch onto a teasing cross before Milan Gajic's low shot from outside the box went just wide of Steve Mandanda's right post.
Dangerous
Lucho Gonzalez teed-up Cheyrou in space on 27 minutes but his effort flew well wide, while Stephane Mbia felled Alphonse on the edge of the area on 32 minutes but the referee waved play on.
Lucho then shot well over before Hilton headed over from close range from a well-worked Marseille free-kick.
Marseille's best chance of the half came late on after Mamadou Niang did well to beat defender Phillippe Koch and put a dangerous cross in from the right.
Brandao got in front of his marker to shoot from close range, but Leoni pulled off a fantastic reaction save with his right arm to deny the striker.
Soon afterwards, Lucho shot wide of the left post and then had an effort saved by the inspired Leoni.
After the re-start, Mandanda pulled off an excellent save to tip over Johan Vonlanthen's powerful goal-bound effort from the edge of the box, while Mathieu Valbuena volleyed wide at the other end.
Gamble
Deschamps threw on Bakari Kone and Fabrice Abriel for Valbeuna and Cheyrou midway through the half as he pushed for the win.
His gamble paid off as the visitors took the lead soon afterwards when Heinze superbly volleyed home a Lucho cross from a tight angle.
But the home side almost replied immediately when Gajic's free-kick missed everyone but Mandanda blocked on the line.
Zurich pressed for an equaliser, with Laurent Bonnart just getting his head on a corner ahead of Hannu Tihinen, who scored the Swiss side's winner against Milan last time.
Bonnart was then sent off for a second bookable offence deep into injury time but Deschamps' men held on for the win.
| FC Zürich |
Team Statistics |
Marseille |
| 0 |
Goals |
1 |
| 0 |
1st Half Goals |
0 |
| 1 |
Shots on Target |
4 |
| 6 |
Shots off Target |
7 |
| 1 |
Blocked Shots |
3 |
| 7 |
Corners |
1 |
| 17 |
Fouls |
13 |
| 4 |
Offsides |
8 |
| 2 |
Yellow Cards |
1 |
| 0 |
Red Cards |
1 |
| 77.3 |
Passing Success |
74.2 |
| 22 |
Tackles |
31 |
| 68.2 |
Tackles Success |
80.6 |
| 50.9 |
Possession |
49.1 |
| 45.7 |
Territorial Advantage |
54.3 |
|
