NYON (Switzerland), Nov 29: UEFA has charged Marseille in connection with an object being thrown at Liverpool’s Steven Gerrard during a Champions League game on Wednesday.

The governing body of European football said on Friday the French club will answer the case at a Dec 11 meeting of its control and disciplinary panel.

Gerrard was struck by what appeared to be a cigarette lighter thrown from a section of Marseille supporters at Liverpool’s Anfield stadium as he prepared to take a corner. He had earlier scored the only goal of the match.

“It’s difficult to control everyone in the crowd when you have a lot of people together,” Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez said on Friday. “So if someone wants to do something you cannot control this. You can fine the club, you can look for solutions after the incident but you can’t control what’s going on, so the response of Gerrard was really good.”

The incident follows a similar case when the two teams met in France.

UEFA said on Friday it had fined Marseille 15,000 euros ($19,270) because an object was thrown from the Velodrome stands during the Sept 16 match which Liverpool won 2-1.—AP