Atletico Madrid beats Marseille to stay perfect

MADRID, Spain – Sergio Aguero and Raul Garcia scored Wednesday to give Atletico Madrid a 2-1 Champions League victory over Marseille to stay perfect in Group D. Garcia got a touch to Mariano Pernia's free kick at the near post in the 22nd minute and deflected the ball past goalkeeper Steve Mandanda for the winner. Maxi Rodriguez took advantage of a fourth-minute Marseille turnover to find Aguero, who moved around his markers to slot a right-footed shot home for his third goal in two European Cup games. Mamadou Niang headed in an equalizer for the French club in the 16th after heading Laurent Bonnart's cross in. Atletico is joint-leader of Group D with six points alongside Liverpool, which beat PSV Eindhoven 3-1. "At home we had the obligation of winning," Atletico coach Javier Aguirre said. "Especially against our rival, which is an important one who plays well." Marseille's second straight defeat leaves it six points off the group lead and in a big hole. "Frustrated. Disappointed," Marseille coach Erik Geretz said as he summed up his feelings. "It's incredible, you play two decent matches and you come away with zero points. It's sad." Marseille and PSV meet next in a match that will likely drop one of the clubs out of contention for the knockout stages. "It's not all done yet, but I also don't want to talk nonsense. With the quality of Liverpool and Madrid, we almost need a miracle," a defeated Geretz said. "To go and win at PSV, that's feasible. The rest will see." Atletico came in without four key players and on the heels of its worst performance of the season — a 1-0 league defeat to Sevilla — that threatened to derail an excellent start, which had included an emphatic 3-0 win at PSV to open the Champions League. In the end, Atletico survived a scrappy match to win the first Champions League game played at the Vicente Calderon stadium for 11 years. Marseille nearly jumped ahead seconds in, however, as Hatem Ben Arfa shot wide with Niang alone at the far post but unseen. Neither team maintained midfield possession effectively and Maxi took advantage of a turnover to weigh a delicate chip over the Marseille defense to Aguero, and the Argentina striker continued his torrid start to the season with another score. "It's good to start the game quickly with a goal," said Aguirre. "He's done a great job, especially since he's tired." Aguerro, who had another chance blocked three minutes later, hasn't had a break since helping Argentina to the gold medal at the Beijing Olympics in August. "He's a phenomenal player. He scores goals from where others can't," Geretz said. "I can't blame my defender. (Aguero's) a magical player." Mathieu Valbuena split the defense with a perfect pass that found Bonnart on the fly inside the hosts' area, and the Frenchman did well to deliver a long cross to Niang at the far post for the equalizer. But Marseille failed to take advantage of that momentum. Defender Taye Taiwo's hard slide into the back of Aguero earned him a booking and handed Pernia a free kick that skipped across the goal for Garcia to nudge in. Atletico failed to settle for closing out the half, losing possession with ill-advised long balls from the back and errant passes in midfield. Niang picked one up in the 40th to curl a shot from 20 meters that goalkeeper Leo Franco stretched to tip out. Atletico finally steadied and nearly pushed ahead in the 55th when Maxi completed a series of neat passes with Aguero before sending a slow backheel flick just wide of the far post. Seven minutes later, Aguero cut back to feed Florent Sinama-Pongolle at the top of the area but Mandanda stretched to his left to push the rising shot out. Atletico coach Javier Aguirre reinforced his midfield in the 67th by bringing on Maniche for Sinama-Pongolle and Marseille couldn't penetrate, with the attack mostly in the Marseille end until Niang nearly equalized in the 89th, but his delivery sliced past Franco and the post. Taiwo headed Marseille's final chance from a corner wide in injury time. Trouble brewed before kickoff as Spanish police beat back sections of the Marseille fans, who replied by ripping seats up to hurl back at the police. – AP