No UEFA Cup Hangover As Olympiakos Thrash Panionios

Ernesto Valverde's Olympiakos side produced another fine attacking display to romp to a 4-1 win over Panionios at the Giorgios Karaiskakis Stadium this evening.

It was an unhappy return to Piraeus for former Olympiakos manager Takis Lemonis, who saw his Panionios side thoroughly outclassed by the defending champions.

First Half

It was Lemonis’ side who had the first chance of the match however, as Uruguayan stars Fabian Estoyanoff and Alvaro Recoba both combined after just five minutes of play.

The move was an early sign of the pattern the game to come, Recoba releasing his fellow countryman with an intelligent ball over the top of the Olympiakos defense, trying to catch the Piraeus giants on the break.

Estoyanoff showed assured touches as he advanced into the penalty area from the right side, finding himself alone with Nikopolidis but only managing to fire his low shot straight at the ‘keeper from an angle.

That miss would eventually haunt the Nea Smyrni side but not before Ernesto Valverde’s in-form team missed a number of first-half chances.

Former CSKA Moscow midfielder Dudu Cearense grabbed the first taste of attacking action, heading over the crossbar from a Fernando Belluschi corner.

Greece centre-back Avraam Papadopoulos was similarly wasteful when he flicked a curled Sebastian Leto free-kick over the crossbar from close-range before the on-loan Liverpool winger saw a similar delivery touched onto the back post by Poland international Marcin Zewlakow.

The Argentine winger almost combined again with Belluschi on 26 minutes, turning Giannis Maniatis before playing a superb low cross into the penalty area, with the latter inches away from diverting it inside the far post.

Belluschi, who starred during Olympiakos’ stunning 5-1 victory over Benfica during the week, then shaved Dario Kresic’s left post with a curled free-kick, before Brazilian striker Diogo went close to the other upright with a similar effort.

The relentless attacking play by Valverde’s side marked what has been a stark turnaround in fortunes for the Spanish manager, who has seen his team transform from a disjointed bunch of talented footballers to a particularly attractive and cohesive attacking unit.

An open and entertaining affair saw another Recoba-inspired counter-attack end with a misguided Barkoglou effort, before Belluschi produced a close-range finish to give his side the lead in the 31st minute, after Oscar’s early cross rebounded off the under-pressure Diogo.

The half appropriately finished with a wonderfully creative attacking move by the hosts, Diogo back-heeling the ball for Belluschi, whose first touch took him past two Panionios defenders and into the area, from where his driven effort struck the crossbar.

Second Half

Any lingering chances of a Panionios recovery were literally spilled just seven minutes into the second-half, as ‘keeper Dario Kresic mishandled Sebastian Leto’s misplaced cross, allowing Diogo to apply the simplest of headed finishes from close-range.

The Brazilian came close to doubling his tally in the 62nd minute, again almost connecting with a Belluschi ball across the face of goal.

Leto’s driven effort then flashed past the left post before Panionios midfielder Bennard Kumordzi was shown a second yellow card for tripping up Pantos, as Takis Lemonis’ side began to collapse at the Giorgios Karaiskakis.

Olympiakos striker Konstantinos Mitroglou came off the bench to take advantage of their deflated state, scoring twice in as many minutes with two similar finishes after Kresic had saved his initial attempts on both occasions.

The celebrations of the Greece U21 international were rather over-zealous but perhaps justified after a difficult past few weeks, during which he and teammate Raul Bravo – who played a full game – were asked to answer for recent disciplinary indiscretions by the club.

The visitors did grab a late consolation goal through Fanouris Goundoulakis however, the midfielder curling a superb effort around Nikopolidis from a tight angle, an effort that earned the applause of an already satisfied Karaiskaki crowd.

Olympiakos 4 (Belluschi 31’, Diogo 52’, Mitroglou 78’, 80’)
Panionios 1 (Goundoulakis 87’)

Line-ups:

Olympiakos: Nikopolidis, Oscar, Diogo (68’ Mitroglou), Leto (71’ Djordjevic), Papadopoulos, Dudu, Belluschi (63’ Galletti), Mendrinos, Raul Bravo, Zewlakow, Pantos

Panionios: Kresic, Maniatis, Berte, Skoufalis (58’ Kiliaras), Recoba, Koutsopoulos, Makos (62’ Nikolaou), Kummordzi, Estoyanoff (81’ Goundoulakis), Majstorovic, Barkoglou


Chris Paraskevas