Marseille plan to take legal action against De Jong

Manchester City's Nigel De Jong (R) and Carlos Tevez (L) challenge Newcastle United's Hatem Ben Arfa during their English Premier League match in Manchester, northern England October 3, 2010

Photo: Reuters

Olympique Marseille plan to take legal action against Manchester City midfielder Nigel De Jong for breaking Hatem Ben Arfa's leg in a Premier League clash last weekend, the president of the Ligue 1 club said on Sunday.

Marseille forward Ben Arfa, who was loaned to Newcastle United during the close season, had his fibula and shinbone broken in a tackle by De Jong and is expected to be out of action for several months.

"We will file a claim against De Jong,” OM president Jean-Claude Dassier told French TV channel TF1 on Sunday, without elaborating. “We have to get rid of this type of individual from European pitches.”

De Jong escaped punishment at the time but Netherlands coach Bert van Marwijk left him out of the Dutch squad for their Euro 2012 qualifiers against Sweden and Moldova.

The player also attracted criticism in July's World Cup final against Spain for kicking Xabi Alonso in the chest. De Jong received a yellow card for the challenge.

Dassier added Ben Arfa had asked Marseille for help with his recovery.

"We will do everything we can, obviously," he said.

France coach Laurent Blanc also supported Ben Arfa, telling TF1: "Hang in there, Hatem, this is a difficult moment in your career but you will get through it."

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Chelsea expose gulf in class with Marseille

Chelsea's Nicolas Anelka (2nd L) celebrates scoring with Florent Malouda (L) against Olympique Marseille during their Champions League soccer match at Stamford Bridge in London, September 28, 2010

Photo: Reuters

Premier League Chelsea exposed a gulf in class when they defeated French champions Olympique Marseille 2-0 at Stamford Bridge in the Champions League group stage on Tuesday.

Chelsea's superiority was so great in a one-sided Group F match, especially in the first half, that the match was over as a contest long before halftime even though they failed to add to John Terry's and Nicolas Anelka's goals scored inside the first 28 minutes.

Marseille manager Didier Deschamps, a former Chelsea favorite and an FA Cup winner with the Blues in 2000, marveled at Chelsea's performance afterwards, saying he believed they were one of the favorites to win this season's competition, despite a recent mini-slump domestically.

"We were dominated both physically and technically, there was a huge gulf in class between the two sides," Deschamps told reporters. "Chelsea had a very effective first half and we lacked a bit of aggression.”

“Although we did better in the second half, you have to say they could easily have scored a third.

"We came here full of ambition, and full of hope, and despite the fact they had some of their main players missing they were still full of internationals.”

He added, "We were vastly inferior in the first half at least and Chelsea remain one of the favorites to be champions of Europe. They were so solid and efficient."

Marseille could have done with the kind of industrious midfield graft that Deschamps was famous for in his pomp.

Instead, their midfield was overrun by Chelsea's with Michael Essien the dominant force, helping Chelsea to take a stranglehold on the game after Terry scored with a deft flick from a Gael Kakuta corner after seven minutes.

They effectively sealed the points when Anelka scored with a 28th-minute penalty.

Ancelotti delight

Underpinning every attack was an inspired Florent Malouda, who tormented the Marseille defense with his jinking runs and invention. French youngster Kakuta also terrorized his compatriots with a glittering performance on the other flank.

Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti, happy for his side to avoid a third successive defeat after losses to Newcastle United and Manchester City in the past week, was delighted.

"It was an important result after those two defeats, which we can now forget about," he told reporters.

"Now we have six points, we are top of the group and have a good chance of finishing first.”

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