Champions League | Marseille 0-1 Atalanta: Chaos, controversy and triumph

Atalanta earned a shock victory away to Roberto De Zerbi’s Olympique Marseille after a saved Charles De Ketelaere penalty and controversial Lazar Samardzic winner.

La Dea were feeling the pressure after five consecutive Serie A draws and a defeat to Udinese, while in Europe they had lost 4-0 at PSG, beaten Club Brugge 2-1, then had a disappointing 0-0 draw with Slavia Prague. Giorgio Scalvini and Marco Brescianini didn’t make the trip, with Marten de Roon, Sead Kolasinac and Daniel Maldini not at 100 per cent either. Marseille were coached by ex-Brighton boss Roberto De Zerbi, with familiar faces including Benjamin Pavard. Italy international Emerson Palmieri was suspended, with Geoffrey Kondogbia, Timothy Weah, Hamed Traore, Leonardo Balerdi, Facundo Medina and Amine Gouiri injured.

See how it all unfolded on the Liveblog.

Atalanta took the initiative early on, Ademola Lookman cutting inside for a shot charged down, and had a huge opportunity to take the lead when Geronimo Rulli rushed off his line to bring down Nikola Krstovic one-on-one.

However, Rulli made up for his error by guessing the right angle and fingertipping the De Ketelaere penalty round the base of the upright.

The first real Marseille chance was on 23 minutes when Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang sprung the offside trap on a Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg through ball and forced Marco Carnesecchi’s acrobatic fingertip save under the bar.

Hojbjerg rather snatched at his chest and volley from the edge of the box when found relatively unmarked by Mason Greenwood.

Atalanta continued to waste incredible chances to score, as they have done all season, with Krstovic ballooning over from 12 yards after good work from Lookman.

They missed another sitter after the restart, Raoul Bellanova nodding the Davide Zappacosta cross wide of the back post from point-blank range.

When Atalanta finally did get the ball in the back of the net on 69 minutes with Lookman tapping in at the back post on a Bellanova roll across, it was disallowed over Krstovic’s earlier offside position.

Carnesecchi smothered a powerful Greenwood free kick and De Ketelaere scuffed his finish into the arms of Rulli, but Lookman and Ivan Juric had some tense words when the Nigerian was substituted.

Aubameyang curled over the bar, but there was chaos in the final minute of normal time. Ederson intercepted a Greenwood pull-back from the by-line and kicked the clearance onto his own arm as he turned and fell. While Marseille were appealing for a penalty, Atalanta went on the counter and scored with a sensational Lazar Samardzic left-foot curler into the far top corner from distance.

Roberto De Zerbi waved his tablet at the referee, demanding he view the incident again, but VAR decided not to recommend an On-Field Review.

Angel Gomes curled right-footed inches past the far post and Greenwood’s scorcher was deflected for a corner in stoppages.

Marseille 0-1 Atalanta

Samardzic 90 (A)

Saved penalty: De Ketelaere 14 (A)