zenit capitalise on carrasso error published: thursday 16 march 2006, 22.00cet fc zenit st. petersburg 1-1 marseille (agg: 2-1) aleksandr kerzhakov's goal was decisive on a miserable night for the visiting goalkeeper.
olympique de marseille's stand-in goalkeeper cédric carrasso endured a torrid evening at the petrovsky stadium as his error set fc zenit st. petersburg on course for a 2-1 aggregate victory that put the russian team into friday's uefa cup quarter-final draw in eindhoven.
carrasso dismissed making his third uefa cup appearance of the season in place of the injured fabien barthez, carrasso was found wanting with 21 minutes remaining as he somehow allowed aleksandr kerzhakov's hopeful effort to trickle into his net. now needing to score twice after zenit triumphed 1-0 at the stade vélodrome in last week's first leg, marseille clawed their way back into the tie through frédéric déhu soon after, but their dwindling aspirations were extinguished when carrasso completed a miserable outing with a late dismissal.
giménez chances zenit forward andrei arshavin's pre-match claims that marseille would miss suspended midfielders wilson oruma and franck ribéry certainly rang true early on. requiring at least one goal to keep their hopes alive, the french side were unable to create any meaningful openings in an evenly-matched first half, although striker christian giménez twice tested zenit goalkeeper viacheslav malafeev.
pervious wall the hosts were happy to rest on their advantage, but as marseille began to throw caution to the wind they capitalised when kerzhakov's speculative shot slipped through carrasso's grasp. déhu gave marseille renewed ambition when he equalised within six minutes as his free-kick found its way through a disjointed defensive wall. however, it was zenit who came closest to grabbing a winner on the night when kerzhakov saw an attempt deflected wide, and with two minutes remaining the busy forward was put clean through, only to be hauled down by carrasso, whose red card ended the visitors' chances.
