Fortounis treble leads Olympiacos to victory
Fortounis treble leads Olympiacos to victory
GREEK SUPERLEAGUE - MATCHDAY 15
Kostas Fortounis scored a hat-trick as Olympiacos made it five wins out of five with a 4-0 demolition job on Larissa at the Georgios Karaiskakis stadium on Wednesday.
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The Greece international midfielder scored a 16th-minute penalty, and added further goals in the 44th and 75th minutes for the rampant Thrylos, for whom Giorgos Masouras also grabbed his first goal for the club to open the scoring.
The win means Olympiacos re-established the eight-point gap between themselves and leaders PAOK, who had won 2-1 against PAS Giannina earlier in the evening. Larissa remain languishing in mid-table with 20 points.
THE MATCH
In the early stages of a daunting schedule of 12 games from January 19 to February 26, Olympiacos came into this match having brought some new faces into the club. Argentine striker Franco Soldano, attacking winger Masouras, Portuguese winger Gil Dias, and goalkeeper Yuri Lodygin have all arrived to bolster the team.
And it was one of the newcomers in Masouras who got the ball rolling against Larissa, controlling a neat pass from Bibras Natcho before slotting a fine finish past Ögmundur Kristinsson after just eight minutes.
Only seven more minutes had elapsed when Olympiacos were handed the chance to make it 2-0 after Nikos Golias was penalised for a foul on Miranda which lead to a penalty being awarded.
Fortounis stepped up to score from 12 yards and put his team firmly in control at that point.
Larissa struggled to gain any meaningful possession against a home side who seemed determined to turn the screw, which they did just before half-time when Fortounis made it 3-0 with his second of the night.
Although the tempo of the game dropped after half-time, there were still plenty of chances for the hosts to add to the scoreline, but Masouras hit the post while Miguel Angel Guerrero headed wide.
Fortounis added the icing on the cake for his team and for his own personal performance with 15 minutes left, however, rounding Kristinsson to score.
STARTING LINEUPS
Olympiacos: 93 Jose Sa (GK), 6 Natcho, 7 Fortounis, 9 Guerrero, 12 Guilherme, 16 Masouras, 20 Meriah, 21 Tsimikas, 25 Miranda, 56 Daniel Podence, 35 Torosidis
Larissa: 1 Kristinsson (GK), 6 Ballas, 7 Bargan, 8 Milosavljević, 13 Jakimovski, 14 Golias, 17 Shikavka, 18 Moras, 20 Karanikas, 21 Noé Acosta, 30 Živković
by Graham Wood
Image Source: onsports.gr
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