Fresh faces lift Marseille

By Christian Châtelet

A spell of three goals in five second-half minutes, all from summer signings, saw Olympique de Marseille home in on a UEFA Cup spot with a 4-1 aggregate victory against S.S. Lazio.

Deportivo await
An evenly-matched UEFA Intertoto Cup semi-final tie was still in the balance on the hour mark when Mamadou Niang finally broke the deadlock, latching on to Wilson Oruma's through-ball and calmly dispatching past Matteo Sereni. That goal opened the floodgates and Andrés Mendoza and Franck Ribéry quickly added two more as the Ligue 1 outfit booked a final against RC Deportivo La Coruña.

Domestic disappointment
Coming into the game on the back of a disappointing defeat by FC Girondins de Bordeaux at the weekend, Marseille started the match looking as if they had something to prove. A 1-1 draw in Italy last week had given them a slender away-goals advantage over S.S. Lazio, and the 1992/93 UEFA Champions League winners almost made the lead more concrete through Niang.

Liverani threat
The Senegalese striker and Oruma were both suspended against Bordeaux and looked to have a fitness edge as Lazio were forced to defend for large periods. They lost right-back Manuel Belleri to a back injury midway through the first half but did not lose their poise and for all Marseille's possession, it was Fabio Liverani who came closest to scoring before the interval, grazing the crossbar with a long-range chip.

Key save
The home side also hit the woodwork nine minutes into second half when Oruma's cross-shot struck the post. A minute later, at the other end Cédric Carasso made a stunning save to deny Tommaso Rocchi, and that proved pivotal as Marseille soon wrested the advantage with a flurry of goals.

Oruma orchestration
Nigerian midfield player Oruma was the catalyst, teeing up Niang for the opener before releasing Andrès Mendoza on a one-on-one with the goalkeeper a minute later. The Peruvian striker finished with great poise and four minutes later the tie was effectively over when Ribéry thundered a shock past a stunned Sereni.

Intertoto clash
Marseille now face Deportivo in Spain on Tuesday before returning to France for the second leg a fortnight later. But first they return to domestic action, and a trip to fellow French Intertoto Cup finalists, RC Lens on Saturday.