Defender Souleymane Diawara scored the only goal as Marseille beat Zilina 1-0 on Tuesday to keep alive its slim hopes of qualifying from the group stages of the Champions League.
Marseille played poorly but snatched the win when Diawara headed in Lucho Gonzalez's corner in the 48th minute.
Striker Andre-Pierre Gignac was denied twice in the opening 15 minutes by Zilina goalkeeper Martin Dubravka, but Marseille failed to create much after that at a subdued Stade Velodrome.
"It wasn't easy, especially in the second half, but we managed to win without dominating. We can do a lot better than we showed tonight," Marseille coach Didier Deschamps said. "We have players with potential, but who lack experience. That's why we're missing chances."
Marseille's chances of qualifying from Group F were boosted by Spartak Moscow's 2-0 home defeat to group leader Chelsea, which has nine points. Spartak is in second place with six points, Marseille has three, and Zilina has none.
"Chelsea's win does us a lot of good. To hope to get second place we need to get a result at Spartak." Diawara said. "It's always difficult to play in Russia, but we will do everything to get the points over there."
Diawara shared Deschamps' view of a difficult encounter.
"We had a duty to win this game. It wasn't an easy game and they were well organized," he said. "We managed to score again from a set piece, even though we had a scare at the end."
Marseille was fortunate not to concede a penalty when Gambian forward Momodou Ceesay was brought down by Diawara after just two minutes, but referee Istvan Vad failed to spot the infringement - nor did the extra official.
France winger Mathieu Valbuena did brilliantly to whip over a cross from a narrow angle in the 25th, and the ball fell perfectly for Andre Ayew on the edge of the penalty area, but the Ghana winger's volley flew just wide.
Gignac, who has lost his place in the France team since the World Cup debacle, had his best game for some time and looked exhausted when he was substituted 10 minutes from time.
Gignac's header across goal a minute before halftime had dropped invitingly to Brazilian striker Brandao who, despite being just one yard (meter) from goal, failed to connect with the ball as a defender came back and whacked it clear.
Moments after the home side had claimed a penalty when Valbuena went to ground, Marseille took the lead. Gonzalez took Marseille's 12th corner of the night from the left and Diawara rose unchallenged to plant a downward header past Dubravka.
Diawara then celebrated the goal in strange fashion, writhing on the floor in mock agony after defender Taye Taiwo took the opposite corner flag and pointed it toward Diawara as if he were firing a gun. Taiwo was shown a yellow card.
Zilina almost equalized in the 63rd when Robert Jez shrugged off a challenge from Cesar Azpilicueta and hit a powerful shot from just inside the penalty box that forced goalie Steve Mandanda into a good one-handed save.
"Nobody expected Zilina to play so well. We managed to match Marseille throughout the game, but it wasn't enough," Zilina coach Pavel Hapal said. "We will do everything we can to get third place. I am sure we can do even better at home when our fans get behind us."
