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Anorthosis Stun Olympiakos

Anorthosis Famagusta 3-0 Olympiakos

In the shock result of the 3rd Round of UEFA Champions League Qualifying, Cypriot champions Anorthosis Famagusta produced arguably the most famous result in their history by beating Greek champions Olympiakos 3-0 at the Antonios Papadopoulos Stadium in Lanarca.

Aug 14, 2008 1:36:22 AM

Champions League: Anorthosis - Olympiacos (INTIME)

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Champions League: Anorthosis - Olympiacos (INTIME)

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The first-leg result has Olympiakos’ Champions League hopes hanging by a thread, with the Greek champions needing a dramatic turn of fortunes in Athens in two weeks time if they are to have any chance of qualifying for the group stages. The result will be an especially bitter pill for fans of the Thrylos to swallow, with hated rivals Panathinaikos securing an important away victory against Sparta Prague this evening and former AEK captain Traianos Dellas playing a full game for Anorthosis.

Contrastingly, Timur Ketsbaia’s Anorthosis side might just have written themselves into Cypriot football folklore, with the famous victory potentially eliminating Olympiakos, who qualified for the knockout stages of the competition last season. If Anorthosis avoid defeat by three goals at the Karaiskakis Stadium in Piraeus in two weeks time, they will become the first Cypriot club in history to qualify for the group stages of Europe’s premier club competition.

Olympiakos manager Ernesto Valverde left new loan signing and Liverpool player Sebastian Leto on the bench, despite the Argentine’s impressive performance against Racing Santander in a recent friendly match. Also left on the bench was fellow high-profile countryman Fernando Belluschi and established Greece international defender Paraskevas Antzas. Valverde – who guided former club Espanyol to a famous UEFA Cup Final appearance against Sevilla two seasons ago – was punished for his seemingly cautious approach to the match.

The Greek champions were stunned by the Cypriot underdogs, who raced into a two-goal lead within 20 minutes. The first goal arrived after just five minutes, when Polish international Łukasz Sosin turned new Olympiakos signing Avraam Papadopoulos on the right-hand touchline, before delivering a superb low cross into the box. With Frenchman Vincent Laban set to finish from just outside the six yard box, Euro 2004-winning goalkeeper Antonis Nikopolidis attempted to intercept the cross but clattered into Vassilis Torosidis, with the ball hitting the defender and bouncing into an empty net, sparking wild celebrations from the Cypriot crowd.

Surely nothing could have prepared the locals for Sosin’s 19th minute goal, as former Lyon player Cedric Bardon was afforded space on the right-hand flank. The Frenchman produced an accurate early cross for unmarked compatriot Sosin inside the box, who produced a fine header into the far corner of the net, with Nikopolidis helpless in goal.

The goalkeeper’s miserable evening was compounded by an injury which forced him to be replaced by new signing Pavel Kovac at half-time.

Olympiakos should have grabbed a crucial away goal on 81 minutes, as Argentine winger Luciano Galletti rounded goalkeeper Adrian Beqaj and was awarded a penalty after being brought down by the Anorthosis shot-stopper. Greece U-21 striker Konstantinos Mitroglou stepped up to take the spot-kick but his side-footed effort came straight back off the left-hand post and was hacked away by a grateful Anorthosis defence, with the Portuguese referee Olegário Benquerença awarding a free-kick to the Cypriot champions from inside the box.

A famous night for the Cypriot champions was completed on 87 minutes, as an intelligent passing move by Anorthosis was completed somewhat fortuitously by Laban, whose deflected strike from just outside the penalty box flew over a powerless Kovac and into the far right corner of the net.

Anorthosis 3 (Torosidis o.g. ‘5, Sosin ’19, Laban ’87)

Olympiakos 0

Line-ups:

Anorthosis Famagusta: Beqaj, Ocokoljic, Dellas, Katsavakis, Leiwakabessy ( Samaras’65), Bardon (A. Constantinou ‘64), Skopelitis, Dobrasinovic, Laban, Nikolaou (Paulo Costa ‘47), Sosin.

Olympiakos: Nikopolidis (Kovac ‘47), Leonardo, Patsatzoglou, Torosidis, A. Papadopoulos, Zewlakow, Stoltidis, Oscar (Mitroglou ‘57), Galletti, Djordjevic (Leto ‘74), Kovacevic.

Chris Paraskevas

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