Mourinho mulls over vital victory

By Matthew Spiro in Marseille

FC Porto coach José Mourinho believes his side's 3-2 win away to Olympique de Marseille at the Stade Vélodrome makes them favourites to qualify alongside Real Madrid CF from UEFA Champions League Group F.

Clinical counterattacking
The visitors secured the points thanks to a clinical display of counterattacking football, the Portuguese champions making full use of the chances they created after soaking up long periods of Marseille pressure before breaking to deadly effect.

'Total domination'
"We put in a great performance and totally dominated the game," Mourinho said, whose side moved above Marseille and now have four points from three games. "We are second in the group now and that's particularly satisfying since the second half of our programme appears - on paper - to be easier than the first."

First-half deficit
Having seen his side start slowly and fall behind to Didier Drogba's 24th-minute strike, the Marseille striker's fifth Champions League goal this season, Mourinho was pleased with the way his side worked their way back into the match.

Quick goals
Porto midfield players Deco and Maniche became more influential as the half wore on, and the visitors turned the game on its head with two strikes in quick succession. Both were low shots into the bottom corner, the first from Maniche and the second from Derlei, and both left the Marseille supporters in stunned silence.

'We needed to win'
Marseille captain Fabio Celestini was left ruing the way his side failed to capitalise on their first-half display. "I feel disappointed because we needed the win tonight," the Swiss international told uefa.com. " The way we played in the first 25 minutes, I thought we would get the win. I'm convinced that we would have won had we gone in 1-0 up at half-time. But at 2-1 in the second half they could defend in numbers and then pick us off on the break."

Decisive third
With the home side forced to commit men forward in the second half in search of an equaliser, Porto looked threatening on the break and substitute Dmitri Alenichev made it 3-1 with nine minutes left. Although Steve Marlet quickly pulled a goal back, Jorge Costa and Ricardo Carvalho provided a solid foundation at the heart of the UEFA Cup winners’ defence and Porto held on to their lead.
 
'Defensive errors'
Marseille coach Alain Perrin believes the return match in Portugal in two weeks' time will prove crucial. "The way things are turning out, with Madrid beating [FK] Partizan tonight, the next match looks like it will be decisive," he said. "It's obvious that we have to work on our defence before then. Tonight we made errors and were punished by a quality team, but we've shown ourselves capable of scoring goals." 

'Come out fighting'
Defender Daniel Van Buyten also believes his side are capable of winning the reverse fixture. "We will come out fighting," the Belgian international promised. "If we play together and play to the best of our ability, we are good enough to win in Portugal. There are three matches left and nine points to play for, and so long as we have a possibility of going through we’ll battle for everything."