Marseille suffered a 1-0 defeat as Ioannis Fetfatzidis fired Olympiakos to victory in UEFA Champions League Group F.
Substitute Fetfatzidis hands potential lifeline to Greek side
Marseille suffered a 1-0 defeat as Ioannis Fetfatzidis fired Olympiakos to victory in the UEFA Champions League Group F clash at the Stade Velodrome.
The substitute scored seven minutes after he stepped foot on the pitch to give his side a potential lifeline to reach the knockout stages.
The result leaves Marseille second in the group, four points behind Arsenal, who beat Borussia Dortmund 2-1 thanks to a double from the in-form Robin Van Persie.
It means Marseille need to beat Borussia Dortmund in the final group game to secure second place and progress to the knockout stages as Arsenal have now qualified in first.
Olympiakos leapfrogged Dortmund into third place to keep their hopes of securing a place in the Europa League alive, but they could still finish second if they beat Arsenal in the final group match if Marseille fail to win in Germany.
Dominated
The French Ligue 1 side dominated the first half and had the first chance of the match when Alou Diarra headed Mathieu Valbuena's corner over the bar in the 11th minute.
Andre Ayew then forced Olympiakos defender Avraam Papadopoulos into a clearance five minutes later which a left-footed strike from 20 yards as the home side had the best of the opening exchanges.
Olympiakos then had a couple of good chances in quick succession 10 minutes before the break when Marseille goalkeeper Steve Mandanda first saved a shot by Kevin Mirallas before he tipped Jose Holebas' 20-yard strike over the bar.
Marseille striker Jordan Ayew then fired a shot over the bar as neither side could find the way to break the deadlock before the break.
Valbuena went close five minutes into the second half when his close-range strike was parried by Megyeri before the French side failed to make anything out of the resulting corner.
Marseille continued to press, with shots by Valbuena and Jordan Ayew again denied by the rock solid defence of the reigning Greek Super League champions.
The Ligue 1 side began to dominate possession but Olympiakos had chances of their own when Ivan Marcano's 61st minute strike was blocked by Benoit Cheyrou seconds after Mirallas' strike from the edge of the area was caught by Mandanda.
Momentum
The momentum then shifted towards Olympiakos and they took the lead thanks to Fetfatzidis' strike in the 82nd minute.
The substitute midfielder collected Francisco Yeste's lofted ball which flew over the Marseille defence before he fired an unstoppable low drive inside the far post to seal the win.
Loic Remy tried to level the scores with a speculative shot but his effort flew over the bar as Marseille succumbed to a home defeat.
| Marseille |
Team Statistics |
Olympiakos |
| 0 |
Goals |
1 |
| 0 |
1st Half Goals |
0 |
| 4 |
Shots on Target |
6 |
| 7 |
Shots off Target |
2 |
| 6 |
Blocked Shots |
2 |
| 9 |
Corners |
3 |
| 13 |
Fouls |
19 |
| 2 |
Offsides |
5 |
| 1 |
Yellow Cards |
1 |
| 0 |
Red Cards |
0 |
| 78.4 |
Passing Success |
67.8 |
| 17 |
Tackles |
33 |
| 76.5 |
Tackles Success |
84.8 |
| 61 |
Possession |
39 |
| 48.9 |
Territorial Advantage |
51.1 |
| 458 |
Total Passes |
283 |
| 29 |
Total Crosses |
22 |
| 191 |
Lost Balls |
178 |
| 54 |
Recoveries |
55 |
|
