Points beat plaudits for Sektioui

Tarik Sektioui said his goal against Olympique de Marseille was "the best of my career" but insisted that a 2-1 win for FC Porto was of even more significance.

'A beautiful goal'
Victory took Porto to the top of Group A, and the highlight was Sektioui's 27th-minute opener. The 30-year-old ran from his own half, past a host of defenders and goalkeeper Steve Mandanda before breaking the deadlock. "It was a beautiful goal – the best of my career," he said. "But it was also the most important, because it was in the UEFA Champions League, and it put us 1-0 up."

Opportunist effort
The Moroccan said scoring had not been on his mind when he picked the ball up in midfield. "My idea when I got the ball was to get down the left side of the defence but after I tried that I saw a lot of space between the two central defenders in front of me," he said. "One of my best qualities is pace over 30 or 40 metres. Before I knew it, I was one-on-one with the goalkeeper."

'Very difficult'
The winger conceded that the French side had been tough opponents, and had forced Porto to dig deep for victory. "It was a difficult moment when Marseille scored but we stayed calm, kept doing the things we're good at and it resulted in the second goal," he said. Lisandro López, who scored that winner 12 minutes from time, agreed. "It was very difficult," said the Argentinian. "After conceding the goal we had to be more organised, and play more intelligently." López's towering header came just minutes after he had missed an easier chance. "It was a great header," he said, but refused to take all the plaudits. "It was also a great cross by Ricardo [Quaresma] and he deserves at least half of the credit."

Mandanda disappointed
Meanwhile, the unfortunate Mandanda – who kept Marseille in the game with some fine saves, notably from Fucile, as the home side stepped up the second-half pressure – felt his side could easily have left northern Portugal with the point which would have kept them top of the group. "We are very disappointed," he said. "We played good football, kept possession very well and caused them some problems."

Qualification chances
The summer signing refuted the idea the French side were unlucky, saying: "We played against a very good team in Porto, though they profited from our mistakes, which is a shame." Mandanda remains confident that Marseille can go on to seal qualification for the knockout phase. "We still have two matches left to try and qualify, so we'll do the maximum possible to make sure we do."