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Olympiakos Survive Tripolis Scare
Olympiakos 3-1 Asteras Tripolis
Despite falling behind to a Danijel Cesarec penalty on the stroke of half-time, Ernesto Valverde’s Olympiakos outfit avoided a disastrous home result by producing a superb second-half performance to condemn a stubborn Asteras Tripolis oufit to a 3-1 defeat at the Giorgios Karaiskakis Stadium this evening.
31-Aug-2008 2:03:12 AM
Argentine winger Luciano Galletti was the catalyst for a second-half resurgence by the defending champions, as he scored two goals within as many minutes to set the Thrylos on their way to an opening-day Greek Super League victory.
It was a harsh lesson for new Asteras manager Carlos Carvalhal, whose side were at one stage half-an-hour away from causing a major upset. It was the Portuguese manager’s first competitive match in charge of Tripolis and despite the loss, he will be encouraged in particular by the stand-out performance of imposing centre-back Marcelao, recruited from Boavista over the summer.
He will be less impressed however, with the debut of new signing Jaouad Zairi, who received a red card in the last minute of normal time for a second bookable offence, as Asteras’ hopes of causing an upset were washed away by Ernesto Valverde’s side on a rainy night in Piraeus.
The Brazilian stopper made his first telling contribution to the match after just 24 minutes, when his intelligent positioning allowed him to prevent Greece under-21 international Konstantinos Mitroglou from opening the scoring. Luciano Galletti managed to burst down the right flank before delivering a superb early cross into the box which picked out Mitroglou, who side-footed his volley into the ground and beyond goalkeeper Giorgios Ambaris, but Marcelao showed great anticipation to hook the ball clear just as it was about to bounce into the net.
In a fast-paced first-half where neither side showed patience in possession of the football, Tripolis had a wonderful chance to take a shock lead when on 40 minutes Croatian striker Cesarec chested the ball down in the penalty box before turning sharply and hitting a half-volley which flashed just wide of veteran goalkeeper Antonios Nikopolidis’ left upright, with the custodian statuesque.
Carvalhal’s side were presented with an even better chance on the stroke of half-time, as lively Argentine Mauro Milano accelerated into the penalty area before touching the ball away from Greece international Christos Patsatzoglou, who tripped up the attacker and gave Athenian referee Germanakos no choice but to award a spot-kick. Cesarec made no mistake with his finish on this occasion, slamming the ball into the top left-hand corner of the net and giving his team a shock 1-0 lead going into half-time.
The thought of losing their opening league match after what had already been a humiliating week in the form of an early UEFA Champions League exit appeared to galvanize Valverde’s players, as Olympiakos came out for the second-half as a team transformed.
The introduction of Argentine Fernando Belluschi for Patsatzoglou at half-time provided a particular spark for the Erythrolefki and it was fellow countryman Galletti who finally broke through after some relentless Olympiakos pressure during the early stages of the second-half.
Receiving the ball well outside the box, the Argentine was given space by an absent Asteras midfield and produced a superb long-range strike that swerved away from the outstretched Ambaris and nestled in the bottom right-hand corner of the net to draw his side level after 61 minutes.
Two minutes later and Asteras inevitably fell behind, as Sebastian Leto did superbly well to dribble his way along the left touch-line before cutting the ball back for high profile Brazilian signing Diogo inside the box, who made an unexpected debut after having his work permit cleared by authorities. The former Portuguesa striker composed himself and looked set to shoot but was bundled over clumsily Israel Damonte. From the spot, Luciano Galletti grabbed his second of the afternoon as he coolly slotted the ball into the bottom-left hand corner, again beyond the oustretched arms of Ambaris.
Olympiakos spent virtually the entire second forty-five minutes playing football in the Asteras half, eventually instilling enough confidence in themselves to play some attractive football after what had been a week devoid of enjoyment for players of the famous red-and-white jersey.
The victory was sealed by substitute striker Darko Kovacevic in the 81st minute, as the Serb finished past the ‘keeper with a sublime first-time volley from inside the penalty area, after left-back Domi had quickly taken a long free-kick on the half-way line.
Olympiakos 3 (Galletti 61’, 63’, Kovacevic 81’)
Asteras Tripolis 1 (Cesarec 47’)
Line-ups:
Olympiakos: Nikopolidis, Pantos, A. Papadopoulos, Zewlakow, Domi, Leto (80’ Stoltidis), Dudu, Patsatzoglou (46’ Belluschi), Galletti, Diogo, Mitroglou (54’ Kovacevic)
Asteras Tripolis: Ambaris, Flavio, Marcelao, Lazaridis, Damonte, Bastia (78’ Kamburov), Fabio Felicio, Urribarri (78’ Donde), Jorginho, Milano (62’ Zairi), Cesarec
Chris Paraskevas
It was a harsh lesson for new Asteras manager Carlos Carvalhal, whose side were at one stage half-an-hour away from causing a major upset. It was the Portuguese manager’s first competitive match in charge of Tripolis and despite the loss, he will be encouraged in particular by the stand-out performance of imposing centre-back Marcelao, recruited from Boavista over the summer.
He will be less impressed however, with the debut of new signing Jaouad Zairi, who received a red card in the last minute of normal time for a second bookable offence, as Asteras’ hopes of causing an upset were washed away by Ernesto Valverde’s side on a rainy night in Piraeus.
The Brazilian stopper made his first telling contribution to the match after just 24 minutes, when his intelligent positioning allowed him to prevent Greece under-21 international Konstantinos Mitroglou from opening the scoring. Luciano Galletti managed to burst down the right flank before delivering a superb early cross into the box which picked out Mitroglou, who side-footed his volley into the ground and beyond goalkeeper Giorgios Ambaris, but Marcelao showed great anticipation to hook the ball clear just as it was about to bounce into the net.
In a fast-paced first-half where neither side showed patience in possession of the football, Tripolis had a wonderful chance to take a shock lead when on 40 minutes Croatian striker Cesarec chested the ball down in the penalty box before turning sharply and hitting a half-volley which flashed just wide of veteran goalkeeper Antonios Nikopolidis’ left upright, with the custodian statuesque.
Carvalhal’s side were presented with an even better chance on the stroke of half-time, as lively Argentine Mauro Milano accelerated into the penalty area before touching the ball away from Greece international Christos Patsatzoglou, who tripped up the attacker and gave Athenian referee Germanakos no choice but to award a spot-kick. Cesarec made no mistake with his finish on this occasion, slamming the ball into the top left-hand corner of the net and giving his team a shock 1-0 lead going into half-time.
The thought of losing their opening league match after what had already been a humiliating week in the form of an early UEFA Champions League exit appeared to galvanize Valverde’s players, as Olympiakos came out for the second-half as a team transformed.
The introduction of Argentine Fernando Belluschi for Patsatzoglou at half-time provided a particular spark for the Erythrolefki and it was fellow countryman Galletti who finally broke through after some relentless Olympiakos pressure during the early stages of the second-half.
Receiving the ball well outside the box, the Argentine was given space by an absent Asteras midfield and produced a superb long-range strike that swerved away from the outstretched Ambaris and nestled in the bottom right-hand corner of the net to draw his side level after 61 minutes.
Two minutes later and Asteras inevitably fell behind, as Sebastian Leto did superbly well to dribble his way along the left touch-line before cutting the ball back for high profile Brazilian signing Diogo inside the box, who made an unexpected debut after having his work permit cleared by authorities. The former Portuguesa striker composed himself and looked set to shoot but was bundled over clumsily Israel Damonte. From the spot, Luciano Galletti grabbed his second of the afternoon as he coolly slotted the ball into the bottom-left hand corner, again beyond the oustretched arms of Ambaris.
Olympiakos spent virtually the entire second forty-five minutes playing football in the Asteras half, eventually instilling enough confidence in themselves to play some attractive football after what had been a week devoid of enjoyment for players of the famous red-and-white jersey.
The victory was sealed by substitute striker Darko Kovacevic in the 81st minute, as the Serb finished past the ‘keeper with a sublime first-time volley from inside the penalty area, after left-back Domi had quickly taken a long free-kick on the half-way line.
Olympiakos 3 (Galletti 61’, 63’, Kovacevic 81’)
Asteras Tripolis 1 (Cesarec 47’)
Line-ups:
Olympiakos: Nikopolidis, Pantos, A. Papadopoulos, Zewlakow, Domi, Leto (80’ Stoltidis), Dudu, Patsatzoglou (46’ Belluschi), Galletti, Diogo, Mitroglou (54’ Kovacevic)
Asteras Tripolis: Ambaris, Flavio, Marcelao, Lazaridis, Damonte, Bastia (78’ Kamburov), Fabio Felicio, Urribarri (78’ Donde), Jorginho, Milano (62’ Zairi), Cesarec
Chris Paraskevas
Inside Goal.Com
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