Jack Wilshere bagged a double as Arsenal go three points clear at the top of their group.
Prior to the penultimate set of group stage fixtures Marseille were rock-bottom of Group F and had so far failed to register a single point in their Champions League campaign.
Jack Wilshere immediately gave the much criticised home fans something to shout about when his direct run from the halfway line set himself up for a neat cut-back before sending a left-footed curling finish over a helpless Steve Mandanda.
Arsenal should have found themselves two goals to the good inside the opening ten minutes when Aaron Ramsey fired straight at the Marseille goalkeeper after Wilshere had initially squared the ball to the waiting Welshman.
Marseille were slow to start and struggled to produce anything that would test the in-form Arsenal side. The closest the French outfit came to scoring in the first half was when Andre-Pierre Gignac showed a minor threat of scoring but a calm Wojciech Szczesny came off his line to extinguish any opportunity of a Marseille leveller.
Arsenal were in full control and were given a penalty by the referee after Nicolas N’Kouolou blocked Ramsey’s movement into the box. Although the replay of the incident suggested that Arsenal’s midfield maestro was perhaps outside the area when the crucial contact was made. Nevertheless, Mesut Ozil was given spot-kick duties as for the second successive game usual penalty-taker, Mikel Arteta, was not on the field of play. Ozil selected a short run-up and dispatched a below-par effort making it easy for Mandanda to block the German’s low, soft effort.
Ozil was quick to attempt to rectify his earlier squandered chance when, early in the second half, raced clear of the Marseille defence but his effort was saved by Mandanda.
Arsenal continued to dominate and their efforts were rewarded in the 65th minute when Ozil poked the ball into the path of Wilshere who perfectly directed the ball into the bottom-left of the goal.
Marseille showed no real sign of forging a late comeback but against the run-of-play Florian Thauvin forced Nacho Monreal to clear a shot off the line.
Shortly after, Thauvin again tested Szczesny with a well-struck crack to Szczesny’s bottom-left.
There was a late chance for Theo Walcott but he could only send his shot wide.
What turned out to be a routine Arsenal victory would have pleased the Arsenal boss, although it was probably the Marseille manager who was the happier of the two managers to hear the full-time whistle.
Written by: James Harrod
Twitter: @goonerscore
Blog: http://goonerscore.wordpress.com/
Prior to the penultimate set of group stage fixtures Marseille were rock-bottom of Group F and had so far failed to register a single point in their Champions League campaign.
Jack Wilshere immediately gave the much criticised home fans something to shout about when his direct run from the halfway line set himself up for a neat cut-back before sending a left-footed curling finish over a helpless Steve Mandanda.
Arsenal should have found themselves two goals to the good inside the opening ten minutes when Aaron Ramsey fired straight at the Marseille goalkeeper after Wilshere had initially squared the ball to the waiting Welshman.
Marseille were slow to start and struggled to produce anything that would test the in-form Arsenal side. The closest the French outfit came to scoring in the first half was when Andre-Pierre Gignac showed a minor threat of scoring but a calm Wojciech Szczesny came off his line to extinguish any opportunity of a Marseille leveller.
Arsenal were in full control and were given a penalty by the referee after Nicolas N’Kouolou blocked Ramsey’s movement into the box. Although the replay of the incident suggested that Arsenal’s midfield maestro was perhaps outside the area when the crucial contact was made. Nevertheless, Mesut Ozil was given spot-kick duties as for the second successive game usual penalty-taker, Mikel Arteta, was not on the field of play. Ozil selected a short run-up and dispatched a below-par effort making it easy for Mandanda to block the German’s low, soft effort.
Ozil was quick to attempt to rectify his earlier squandered chance when, early in the second half, raced clear of the Marseille defence but his effort was saved by Mandanda.
Arsenal continued to dominate and their efforts were rewarded in the 65th minute when Ozil poked the ball into the path of Wilshere who perfectly directed the ball into the bottom-left of the goal.
Marseille showed no real sign of forging a late comeback but against the run-of-play Florian Thauvin forced Nacho Monreal to clear a shot off the line.
Shortly after, Thauvin again tested Szczesny with a well-struck crack to Szczesny’s bottom-left.
There was a late chance for Theo Walcott but he could only send his shot wide.
What turned out to be a routine Arsenal victory would have pleased the Arsenal boss, although it was probably the Marseille manager who was the happier of the two managers to hear the full-time whistle.
Written by: James Harrod
Twitter: @goonerscore
Blog: http://goonerscore.wordpress.com/