Champions League

Manchester United reached the quarter finals of the Champions League for the fifth successive season after beating Olympique Marseille 2-1.

The Mexican did it again for United after he scored a goal in the fifth minute and scored for the fifth time in five games. Five has proved to be lucky for the Red Devils in the game.

Smalling started with Wes Brown in the center who always remains in the shadows for his fitness level.

It was the veteran Giggs who saw Rooney from the left flank and passed him the ball and the English striker passes the ball towards Hernandez who tapped the ball towards the right corner of the post which was the easiest tapping for Hernandez.

Marseille attacked when Gignac found himself free but his shot was wide. United was in full flow when Giggs delivered a dangerous cross but it was saved by the Marseille goalkeeper.

Hernandez was shown a yellow for a rough tackle on Heinze in the 20^th minute. O’Shea was proving to be good on the flanks as he delivered the ball to Nani a lot of times but Nani failed to capitalize. O’Shea left the field as he pulled his hamstring in the first half and Rafael came on the field for him.

Marseille nearly equalized when Diawara reached to a cross by Tiawo but somehow his header went wide from six yards.

United came string in the second half when Rooney played the ball to Hernandez but he was offside, it would have been another goal had he not strayed offside.

Anton Valencia came to the field in the 61^st minute for Nani who failed to impress. Then it was the turn of Rafael to move out of the game because of a hamstring injury and was replaced by his brother Fabio.

United was confident of winning the game and then Hernandez extended the lead in the 76^th minute with another superb finish which took his season tally to 16. Once again Giggs started the move when he passed the ball to Valencia who passed the ball to Hernandez who was on target.

Brown succumbed to the pressure and he headed the ball into his own net in the 82^nd minute.

Marsielle got a goal and were proving dangerous to equalize for the last 8 minutes but United kept them at bay to reach the quarter finals of the Champions League.

Tags: Champions League, Football, Manchester United, Olympique Marseille, Red Devils, UEFA Champions League