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Marseille nabs late away goal vs. Salzburg to reach Europa League final

REUTERS/Leonhard Foeger / Action Images

Marseille will compete in its first European final in over a decade, as the French side progressed past Red Bull Salzburg 3-2 on aggregate Thursday to secure a spot in the Europa League finale against Atletico Madrid.

Substitute defender Rolando scored the vital away goal for Marseille, tapping in a corner from Dimitri Payet in the second half of extra time.

After falling 2-0 on aggregate after the first leg, Salzburg's comeback hopes stirred in Thursday's second half when Amadou Haidara slalomed through four Marseille players before firing his team into a 1-0 lead.

It only took the Austrian side another 12 minutes to complete the second-leg comeback, as Marseille's Bouna Sarr inadvertently tapped in Xaver Schlager's shot, which appeared to be going wide.

Marseille last appeared in the Europa League/UEFA Cup final in 2004, where the club lost 2-0 to Valencia.

Atletico defeated Arsenal 1-0 in the other Europa League semi-final (2-1 on aggregate), ending departing manager Arsene Wenger's last hopes of silverware for the season. The final is set for May 16.

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