Brandao double fires Marseille into final

A double by Brazilian striker Brandao saw Marseille come from behind to beat Toulouse 2-1 after extra-time and move to within sight of their first silverware since 1993 as they reached the League Cup final on Wednesday.

Brandao – a six million euro signing from Ukraine’s UEFA Cup winners Shakhtar Donetsk in the 2009 transfer window – struck with a header in the 85th minute.

He then delivered the killer blow in the 104th minute to cancel out France international Andre-Pierre Gignac’s opener for the hosts.

Both sides had played out a relatively cagey first-half with Brandao going down in the ninth minute with a head wound, which required him to go off and return some six minutes later with the cut bandaged.

Strike partner Lucho Gonzalez was the only one of the visiting team to trouble the Toulouse goal going closest with a 25-metre effort which fizzed past the post in the 18th minute.

The hosts’ most effective player going forward in the first 45 minutes was their recent signing, England-born Turkish international Kazim Kazim, who had scored at the weekend after coming on as a substitute.

He made several incisive forays down the flank but his efforts were wasted on Gignac.

However, Gignac was to make no mistake in the second-half when he got free of his marker to head home Albin Ebondo’s inch-perfect cross from the right.

Marseille coach Didier Deschamps – who was part of the Marseille side that won their last trophy the 1993 Champions League – reacted immediately by replacing Mathieu Valbuena with Hatem Ben Arfa to give them more attacking edge in midfield.

This paid off handsomely five minutes from time as Ben Arfa knocked in a great cross to the back post where Brandao was waiting gleefully to head home.

Brandao’s joy went into overdrive in the 104th minute when the ball fell to him on the edge of the box and he deftly touched the ball onto his left foot and shot home into the far corner.

On Tuesday Bordeaux booked their place in the last four with a 1-0 win over second division strugglers Sedan, who had knocked out the French champions of the competition at the same stage in 2008.

A second-half goal from Yoann Gouffran was enough to see Bordeaux – who showed 11 changes to their starting line-up from last Saturday’s 0-0 draw in the league with Boulogne-sur-mer – book a last four meeting with Lorient, a repeat of the 2002 final.

Bordeaux coach Laurent Blanc said that contrary to what the critics thought he and his side treated every trophy seriously.

“Last year people said that Bordeaux didn’t care about the domestic cups (though they did win the League Cup),” he said.

“This year they can’t say that. Of course there is a price to pay for success and that is a heavier fixtures schedule, which will be the case this month,” said the 44-year-old, whose team are in the hunt for four trophies.

Bordeaux are away to Lorient – who last week stunned Lyon in their quarter-final – on February 17.