Wenger Gets Most Out of Defense as Arsenal Defeat Marseille

Aaron Ramsey scored the deciding goal in the final moments at Stade Velodrome to propel Arsenal to victory over Marseille, 1-0, in Champions League group play.

Johan Djourou delivered a long ball intended for Gervinho, and the Ivory Coast star deflected the ball to Ramsey, who buried the ball from the left side with his right foot in the 90th minute.

Goalkeeper Steve Mandanda could nothing about it, as Marseille supporters watched with dismay as they lost a point at home.

While there are some calls for manager Arsene Wenger to be sacked, his decision to substitute Ramsey, who had been nursing an injury recently, for Andrei Arshavin proved to be the right decision. The win has to also be especially satisfying for the France-born boss due to his long and rather murky relationship with Marseille, and for his earlier insistence that Arsenal are united club.

The Gunners are now the leaders of Group F with seven points in three matches. Marseille are in second place with six points.

Neither team mustered much of an attack. Arsenal only took six shots in the match, with five on goal, while Marseille took seven shots, with two on goal.

An encouraging sign for Arsenal was the play of the makeshift defense. Without Keiran Gibbs, Thomas Vermaelen, and Bacary Sagna, Wenger got a solid performance from Andre Santos, Per Mertesacker, Laurent Koscielny, and Carl Jenkinson.

The Gunners have some momentum now. In their last six matches, in all leagues, Arsenal have five wins.

Arsenal's host Stoke City at Emirates Stadium on Sunday in a Premier League match.

Here is a look at Ramsey's goal.