Marseille 0-4 Liverpool
Written off nearly two months ago, Liverpool FC completed their incredible UEFA Champions League comeback with a 4-0 victory at Olympique de Marseille, catapulting themselves into the knockout phase thanks to an explosive start at the Stade Vélodrome.
Marseille third
FC Porto’s win over Beşiktaş JK elsewhere in Group A meant a draw would have sufficed for the hosts, but their dreams of progress were in tatters within eleven minutes after Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres stunned the hosts with a goal apiece. Marseille never recovered from that and their resistance was ended by Dirk Kuyt striking right after the break, before Ryan Babel's late fourth confirmed the Ligue 1 side's place in the UEFA Cup.
Gerrard breakthrough
An intimidating crowd whistled every Liverpool touch in the early exchanges, but Rafael Benítez's men helped settle any nerves with a dramatic early breakthrough. Marseille’s rearguard foolishly let Gerrard race clear in midfield and a clumsy Gaël Givet challenge in the area allowed the Reds' captain the chance to convert from the spot. Goalkeeper Steve Mandanda denied him down the middle, yet Gerrard dispatched the rebound with characteristic big-match calm to give Liverpool a fourth-minute lead.
Torres skill
If that goal had caught Marseille napping, the French side simply looked helpless just seven minutes later. This time, Harry Kewell fed Torres on the left and the Spain striker danced gracefully past three tackles before slipping the ball inside the far post. The lions promised by Marseille coach Erik Gerets were looking decidedly tame in the face of such a devastating start and the Belgian tactician was forced to play his joker ahead of schedule, introducing injury-doubt Samir Nasri for Benoït Cheyrou on 34 minutes.
Liverpool chances
Marseille gradually began applying pressure towards the end of the half, but the better chances still transpired at the other end, with Gerrard curling a free-kick narrowly wide, left-wing nuisance Kewell volleying a loose ball just over and Torres also firing too high with a lob. And the hosts suffered another blow before the return to the dressing rooms when Givet picked up an injury and had to be replaced by Jacques Faty.
Kuyt strike
They started the second half with a switch too, replacing one former Liverpool man with another. Boudewijn Zenden made way for marksman Djibril Cissé, however it was a current Liverpool striker who delivered the next blow, following a poor kick from Mandanda. Kewell intercepted and played an excellent pass inside for Kuyt, who rushed through the middle, jabbed high into the net and effectively ended the match as a contest with 48 minutes gone.
Cissé chance
Cissé then headed Marseille's best chance the wrong side of the post in a rare moment of panic for Pepe Reina, but by that point the crowd were resigned to defeat. Liverpool increased the damage when Babel sidestepped Mandanda and rolled the ball home a minute into added time, and they can now start to plan another assault on the continental title having been staring into the abyss not so long ago.
Porto 2-0 Beşiktaş
A goal in either half from captain Lucho González and Ricardo Quaresma gave FC Porto victory against a resilient Beşiktaş JK to take the Portuguese side into the UEFA Champions League first knockout round as the winners of Group A.
Point enough
The 2004 winners kicked off knowing a point would be enough to guarantee progress yet they were on the front foot throughout against visitors who needed victory to maintain their own hopes of reaching the last 16. The alert González opened the scoring a minute before half-time and although the Turkish team pushed forward thereafter, Quaresma added a second two minutes past the hour as Porto won their section for the first time since 1996/97.
Porto press
Coach Jesualdo Ferreira had promised Porto would attack and his team were as good as his word from the kick-off with Rüştü Reçber punching away Quaresma's dangerous free-kick in the third minute. Quaresma's eighth-minute dribble then created an opportunity for González but the captain took too long and the danger was snuffed out. It was 17 minutes before the visitors had their first sight of goal, İbrahim Toraman rising highest to meet Matías Delgado's corner only to fail to get his effort on target.
Home domination
Though Beşiktaş looked composed in possession the home team continued to dominate, Raul Meireles narrowly failing to connect with Tarik Sektioui's cross as the goal beckoned. Having failed to turn their dominance into a tangible advantage, frustration began to set in and Porto almost fell behind as Bruno Alves inadvertently sliced Rodrigo Tello's left-wing cross narrowly over his own crossbar.
González breakthrough
Stung, the Portuguese side pushed forward again and came close to the breakthrough in the 41st minute, Bosingwa bursting past two challenges and unleashing a low shot that Rüştü had to turn around his near post. Two minutes later the Beşiktaş goalkeeper made an even better stop, diving to palm away Sektioui's drive, but the reprieve was only temporary. From the resulting corner Sektioui's clever touch deflected the ball out of Rüştü's grasp, leaving the goalkeeper appealing in vain for an offside flag as González applied a simple finish to put Porto in front.
Positive start
Beşiktaş started the second period in positive fashion as they aimed to salvage their hopes of qualifying from the group stage for the first time. Straight from the restart Serdar Özkan collected Bobo's pass only for Helton to turn his attempt around the post, and Edouard Cissé then dragged a shot wide from the resulting corner. Porto nearly exploited the away team's eagerness to attack, Lisandro López playing in Sektioui but he was forced wide by Rüştü and the danger passed.
No mistake
Defensive midfielder Paulo Assunção then found himself through on goal, but shot past the far post. The Portuguese champions had clearly stepped up the pace as they sought to finish matters, and on 62 minutes registered the all-important second goal when another smart pass from López put Quaresma clear, and the winger made no mistake. Ertuğrul Sağlam's men were a beaten side and it was Porto who came closest to scoring again when the outstanding López fizzed a left-foot shot wide.
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