Cisse late show saves Olympiacos derby blushes
GREEK SUPERLEAGUE - MATCHDAY 10
| Olympiacos | 1 - 1 | Panathinaikos |
|---|---|---|
| Cisse 90'+5' | Kace 61' |
Pape Abou Cissé bundled home an injury time equaliser for Olympiacos as the first Athens “Derby of the Eternal Enemies” ended in a 1-1 draw at the Georgios Karaiskakis stadium on Sunday night.
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Ergys Kaçe’s wondergoal just after the hour mark looked to have given Panathinaikos a superb win over their fierce rivals, the Albanian international midfielder showing superb skill and composure to flick the ball over Olympiacos midfielder Andreas Bouchalakis and send a delicious volley into the top left corner of Sa’s goal just after the hour mark.
But Cisse had the last word, prodding home from close-range in the fifth minute of added time during a breathless finish as the Greens tried desperately to repel wave after wave of Olympiacos attacks.
Despite the result, the performance produced by Giorgos Donis “babies” deserves plenty of praise, as they almost delivered what would have been a famous victory over Pedro Martin’s Thrylos team.
The result means it’s a case of as you were for both sides, with Panathinaikos moving onto 15 points but staying in sixth place, while Olympiacos remain in third place with 20 points - six points behind leaders PAOK.
THE MATCH
The Matchday 10 showdown between Greece’s two biggest clubs had been labelled by some sections of the local media as a case of men against boys, in reference to Panathinaikos’ young side.
But there was no chasm between the two sets of players as Donis’ youthful team, who have lit up the SuperLeague with their impressive form, stood up to the test of a hostile Piraeus crowd.
The game began at quite a frenetic pace as both sides looked to assert their authority in the opening 15 minutes. First it was the home side who threatened, and they even had the ball in the net after minutes.
Unfortunately, Portuguese winger Daniel Podence had already been flagged for offside before he broke clear and finished clinically after taking on Bibras Natcho’s slick pass.
The Greens then enjoyed a promising spell of possession with young winger Tasos Chatzigiovanis making plenty of inroads down the left flank, before Ergys Kaçe saw a speculative shot comfortably saved by Olympiacos goalkeeper Jose Sa.
Podence should have given Olympiacos the lead in the 38th minute, but the diminutive winger was thwarted by Greens goalkeeper Sokratis Dioudis when clean through on goal, meaning that the teams went into the dressing rooms at half-time level at 0-0.
The first action of the second half saw Dioudis suffer a face injury in a strong aerial challenge from Natcho. The Israeli midfielder earned a yellow card for his troubles and Panathinaikos were forced to replace the injured Dioudis with Konstantinos Kotsaris. It was a scary moment for Dioudis as he swallowed his tongue, but thankfully reports mentioned that he is now ok. In a touching moment of the derby, the home fans clapped for the injured Panathinaikos keeper as he was carried off in a stretcher.
Panathinaikos then began to get their foot on the ball as the half wore on, and the crucial breakthrough came in the 61st minute. Just when it seemed Panathinaikos had lost the momentum of their attack, Kaçe conjured up a magical strike.
The little midfielder clipped the ball over Bouchalakis and then fired an audacious volley past Sa, who got a hand to the ball but only succeeded in guiding the goal-bound effort in off the post.
The goal sparked silence among the Karaiskakis faithful as the Panathinaikos bench celebrated wildly, although there was still a long way to go at that point.
Emmanuel Insua then wasted a glorious chance to make it 2-0 to the Greens just two minutes later, when the Argentine blazed over the crossbar after the ball fell to him inviting following a Chatzogiovanis cross.
Olympiacos responded with a long spell of pressure and went close to a leveler after 76 minutes when Leonardo Koutris’ inviting left-wing cross was headed inches past Kotsaris’ left post by Brazilian forward Guilherme.
The hosts piled on the pressure in the closing stages, winning a flurry of corners which had the Greens well and truly on the ropes. From one of them, Omar Elabdellaoui sent a deflected shot off Kotsaris’ right post, while Kamara blazed the rebound over the bar with the goal gaping.
There was still one more chance for Olympiacos due to the lengthy injury time played because of the stoppage for Dioudis’ treatment earlier in the half, and the home side made it count.
Substitute Mady Camara’s long, raking pass was headed back across the Panathinaikos goal by Elabdellaoui, and Cisse arrived perfectly to prod the ball home from a couple of yards out as Kotsaris’ dive just missed the ball.
The goal sparked jubilant scenes in the stands on among the home players and officials, while the Panathinaikos players were left to curse their luck and a lost opportunity to claim some bragging rights.
STARTING LINEUPS
Olympiacos: 93 Sa(GK), 14 Elabdellaoui, 66 Cisse, 26 Vukovic, 23 Koutris, 12 Guilherme, 5 Bouchalakis, 7 Fortounis, 6 Natcho, 56 Daniel Podence, 18 Hassan
Panathinaikos: 1 Dioudis(GK), 78 Coulibaly, 4 Kolovetsios, 24 Mavromatis, 2 Johansson, 21 Kourbelis(C), 26 Kace, 3 Insua, 18 Bouzoukis, 11 Chatzigiovanis, 9 Macheda
HIGHLIGHTS: OLYMPIACOS - PANATHINAIKOS
