Marseille beats 10-man Sporting after goalkeeper errors

Published Oct. 4, 2022 3:20 p.m. ET

Associated Press

MARSEILLE, France (AP) — Marseille recovered from going behind in the first minute to rout Sporting Lisbon 4-1 Tuesday in the Champions League, thanks in part to visiting goalkeeper Antonio Adan making two costly errors before getting sent off.

After not scoring a goal in two opening losses in Group D, Marseille ended Sporting's perfect record with goals from Alexis Sanchez, Amine Harit, Leonardo Balerdi and Chancel Mbemba.

Adan had a night to forget, as he gifted Sanchez the equalizing goal after dawdling on the ball, made another mistake for the second and then was handed a red card in the 23rd minute after handling the ball outside his area.

The kickoff was delayed by more than 20 minutes after the bus carrying the visiting team’s players was caught in traffic and arrived late at the at the Velodrome stadium. The delay had been set to 15 minutes by UEFA and as Marseille players waited in the tunnel, coach Igor Tudor looked furious and complained to match officials that their opponents were late to come out of the locker room.

But Sporting wasted no time once the game got started, needing less than 60 seconds to break the deadlock.

With Marseille defenders letting him move forward unopposed, Francisco Trincao went down the right flank and cut inside to fire a left-footed shot into the net.

Marseille needed a blunder from the Sporting goalkeeper to get back in the match in the 13th minute.

Under pressure from Sanchez, Adan kicked the ball straight at the Chile striker as he tried to clear, and it bounced back into the net.

Adan looked destabilized and was again at fault on Marseille's next goal three minutes later after another poor kick landed at Matteo Guendouzi's feet. The midfielder was quick to pass the ball to Jonathan Clauss, who crossed it for Harit to finish off the move with a fine header.

Adan then rushed out to clear a ball in the 23rd, only to mistime his run and handle outside the area. Forward Marcus Edwards came off to make way for goalkeeper Franco Israel, who made his Champions League debut.

Israel's lack of experience was on display on Marseille's next chance, when he misjudged a free kick from Harit and could not stop Leonardo Balerdi's powerful header in the 28th.

Sporting could not recover and was repeatedly sanctioned four fouls as Marseille controlled the remainder of the match, with Mbemba adding luster to the win in the 85th minute from close range.

The game was played without fans following the crowd trouble during Eintracht Frankfurt’s 1-0 win at Marseille last month.

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