But Wilson stole the points with 10 minutes to go when he broke forward and fired past Crewe keeper Ben Garratt.
Another summer recruit, Cabella should have added a second when he broke forward with Perez before firing a goalbound shot that was pushed wide by Simon Mignolet.
The Belgium midfielder was Tottenham's saviour in the last round as his injury-time goal earned Spurs an aggregate victory over Lyon, and in Milan he broke forward before unleashing a shot that Inter goalkeeper Samir Handanovic could only parry.
The former England captain's reassurance at the heart of midfield calmed things down and when he broke forward in time added on and played in Jeremy Menez with a flick of that famous right boot, the result was an Ibrahimovic goal that ultimately ended Marseille's brave fight.
Downing breaks forward, lays the ball to Suarez, who chests it and gets it into the path of Shelvey.
Howell breaks forward and just needs to tap it to his his team-mate rampaging up the left wing.
Atletico rob the ball and they break forward, wasting more time, and when Barca come forward again Neymar is fouled.
Juventus are at their most dangerous when they break forward with raking diagonal passes from their midfield for any one of their speedy forwards to chase.
Walter Mazzarri's players were quick to the ball, strong in the challenge and, when they broke forward, they did so with pace and numbers.
Stoke, in contrast, looked dangerous whenever they broke forward.
