Marseille 1-2 Benfica

Alan Kardec came off the bench to inflict last-minute heartbreak on Marseille as his late goal sent Benfica through to the Europa League quarter-finals.

The game seemed destined for penalties after Maxi Pereira swiftly levelled following Mamadou Niang's 70th-minute opener.

However, Kardec's last-gasp goal, just three minutes after coming on and his first for Benfica, put the Portuguese team through.

There was further misery for Marseille when Hatem Ben Arfa was dismissed in stoppage time, seconds after coming on, for lashing out at the Benfica goalscorer.

The game started cautiously but Benfica should have taken the lead in the 23rd minute when Oscar Cardozo's 25-yard thunderbolt smashed off the right upright.

That seemed to spark the hosts into life and they came close to going in front five minutes later as Benoit Cheyrou evaded two Benfica defenders before releasing Fabrice Abriel who served Brandao but he headed over.

Angel Di Maria could have put the visitors in front in the 35th minute but Marseille goalkeeper Steve Mandanda did well to collect his low rasping shot.

As half-time approached Marseille began to step up a gear and Julio Cesar pulled off a good save to deny Brandao before former Porto player Lucho Gonzalez sent his effort inches wide.

Benfica came close to breaking the deadlock shortly after the hour mark when Fabio Coentrao took advantage of space on the left flank before putting in a delightful cross which evaded Mandanda and which an ideally-placed Javier Saviola should have done better with.

The visitors were completely dominating the tie and it seemed a matter of time before they took the lead but they continued to waste a plethora of chances and it was Marseille who took the lead against the run of play.

Niang flicked on Cheyrou's free-kick towards Brandao who returned the favour and the Senegal international tapped the ball home.

But their lead lasted only four minutes before Pereira's 35-yard free-kick took a slight deflection off Cheyrou before flying into the back of the net.

And worse was to come for Marseille as in the final minute Pablo Aimar's free-kick found its way through to Kardec, who lashed it past Mandanda to send the travelling fans into raptures.

There was still time for Ben Arfa, Marseille's last-minute hero in the first leg, to be handed a straight red card moments after coming off the bench, for kicking out at Kardec.