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25 October 2007, by Sean Gillen

Late Gonzalez penalty puts Porto in strong position

Marseille 1-1 FC Porto

Lucho Gonzalez’s late penalty earned Portuguese champions FC Porto what could prove to be a valuable point from their trip to Group A leaders Marseille.

After dominating the opening hour of the match and wasting some excellent opportunities, the visitors conceded to Mamadou Niang’s opener, but Argentine captain Lucho made sure that Porto came away with a deserved share of the spoils after Lisandro Lopez had earned a spot kick.

Jesualdo Ferreira’s pre-match analysis was that Porto had to win and his team certainly began with confidence and plenty of intent, with Assuncao shooting over inside the first minute as Ricardo Quaresma showed some bright early touches.

Raul Meireles was unlucky not to open the scoring for Porto, the midfielder hitting the post twice before the twenty-minute mark. First the Portuguese international received a layoff from Bosingwa on the edge of the area and hit the outside of the upright, before some nice control resulted in an effort coming back off the same post from slightly further out ten minutes later.

Early dominance

Six attempts on goal to their opponents’ none summed up the way Porto controlled the opening twenty minutes, but the Marseille defence held firm as the Portuguese front line struggled to execute a productive final ball at times.

The second half began in much the same vein, but more wasteful finishing from Quaresma and substitute Helder Postiga would cost the visitors dear as Marseille finally exploded into life ten minutes after the interval.

The French side had already sent out a warning sign when Djibirl Cisse sent Niang through on the inside-right of the area for the Senegalese to fire straight at Helton, and the same two players combined to give Marseille the lead after 69 minutes.

Cisse found himself with time and space inside the box, leading to the former Liverpool man sliding the ball across the goalmouth for Niang to bundle over the line from close-range.

Brilliant Lucho pass

With the home side now well on top, Porto’s equaliser came completely out of the blue. Lucho threaded a fantastic throughball to send Lisandro Lopez in on goal, with the Argentine striker brought down by Steve Mandanda as he attempted to round the Marseille goalkeeper, and Postiga’s woeful effort from the rebound led the referee to adjudge that no advantage had been gained.

The Porto captain was typically composed with his kick, driving the ball inside the left-hand post, with Mandanda going the right way but failing to get anywhere near the perfectly taken penalty.

Neither side seemed happy with a point and Postiga and Cisse both wasted chances at opposite ends of the pitch during the closing ten minutes, but Liverpool’s defeat in Turkey against Besiktas leaves the two teams very much in pole position to qualify for the knockout phase.

Marseille:
Mandanda, Givet (Taiwo, 68), Faty, Bonnart, Zubar, Cana, Cheyrou, Valbuena, Zenden (Arrache, 55), Niang, Cisse (Ayew, 88)
Yellow Cards: Niang, Mandanda

FC Porto:
Helton, Bosingwa, Fucile, Stepanov, Bruno Alves, Paulo Assuncao, Raul Meireles (Leandro Lima, 72), Lucho Gonzalez, Mariano Gonzalez (Postiga, 46), Ricardo Quaresma, Lopez
Yellow Cards: Stepanov

Goals:
[1-0] Niang, 69
[1-1] Lucho Gonzalez, 79 (pen)