Greeks Abroad Review: Lots of goals to enjoy
AGONAsport’s Shaun Nicolaides rounds up the performances of Greeks playing in other leagues in this week’s Greeks Abroad Review.
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The goals were certainly flowing this week. In Italy, Kostas Manolas got on the scoresheet for Napoli with a thumping header, before fellow centre-back Sokratis Papastathopoulos helped Arsenal advance to the quarter-finals of the FA Cup with a superb volley. Elsewhere, Taxiarchis Fountas hit the target for Rapid Vienna, St. Pauli’s Dimitris Diamantakos registered a goal in the second tier of German football and Vangelis Pavlidis netted his 11th of the Eredivisie season with Willem II.
MAIN MEN (Comprised of current/former national team players):
Sokratis Papastathopoulos (Arsenal/English Premier League): Used as a substitute in the 103rd minute of the 2-1 UEFA Europa League loss to Olympiacos, before scoring and playing the full 90 minutes in a 2-0 win against Portsmouth in the FA Cup.
Jose Cholevas (Watford/English Premier League): Not included in the squad as Watford famously defeated league leaders Liverpool 3-0 at home.
Panagiotis Retsos (Sheffield United/English Premier League): Sheffield United did not play at the weekend.
Sebastian Vasiliadis (Paderborn/German Bundesliga): Received a yellow card while playing the entirety of a 2-0 defeat to Mainz on the road.
Konstantinos Stafylidis (Hoffenheim/German Bundesliga): Missed a heavy 6-0 loss to Bayern Munich at home.
Stefanos Kapino (Werder Bremen/German Bundesliga): Werder Bremen will next play on Wednesday.
Vasilis Lampropoulos (Bochum/German Bundesliga 2): Left on the bench during an entertaining 4-4 draw with Sandhausen at home.
Kostas Manolas (Napoli/Serie A): In the UEFA Champions League, he played 90 minutes of the 1-1 draw with Barcelona, before scoring in a 2-1 home triumph over Torino in Serie A while playing the entire game.
Orestis Karnezis (Napoli/Serie A): Missed the match against Barcelona and was on the bench as Napoli defeated Torino at the weekend.
Panagiotis Tachtsidis (Lecce/Serie A): Used as a substitute in the 63rd minute of a thumping 7-2 loss to Atalanta at home.
Charalampos Lykogiannis (Cagliari/Serie A): Sat on the bench with Cagliari losing 4-3 to AS Roma.
Odisseas Vlachodimos (Benfica/Portuguese Primeira Liga): Conceded three goals in a 3-3 draw with Shakhtar Donetsk as Benfica were knocked out of the Europa League. At the weekend, he let in one goal in a 1-1 draw against Moreirense.
Andreas Samaris (Benfica/Portuguese Primeira Liga): Missed the Europa League game, but he did play the entirety of the league match on Monday. Received a yellow card for his troubles.
Dimitris Siovas (Leganes/La Liga): Played 90 minutes of a 1-1 draw against Alaves at home.
Leonardo Koutris (Mallorca/La Liga): Unfortunately, the full-back is on the sidelines with a long term injury. This week, Mallorca lost 1-0 to Getafe.
Efthymis Koulouris (Toulouse/Ligue 1): Emerged as a substitute in the 82nd minute of a 2-0 home setback against Rennes.
Anastasios Donis (Reims/Ligue 1): Started the match against AS Monaco and was substituted in the 80th minute. The teams played to a 1-1 draw.
Konstantinos Mitroglou (PSV Eindhoven/Eredivisie): Used as a substitute in the 86th minute of a 1-1 draw against Feyenoord at home.
Marios Vrousai (Willem II/Eredivisie): Emerged from the bench with two minutes remaining of a 3-1 home triumph over Groningen.
Vangelis Pavlidis (Willem II/Eredivisie): Scored and dished out an assist in the same game. Substituted in the 86th minute of play.
Tasos Bakasetas (Alanyaspor/Turkish Super Lig): Substituted in the 88th minute as Alanyaspor slumped to a 2-1 defeat to Besiktas.
Manolis Siopis (Alanyaspor/Turkish Super Lig): Received a booking while playing the full game against Besiktas at home.
Georgios Tzavellas (Alanyaspor/Turkish Super Lig): Remained on the bench in the same game.
Carlos Zeca (Copenhagen/Danish Superliga): Played 90 minutes of the vital 3-1 Europa League triumph at Celtic, before scoring an own goal and taking a yellow card while competing for the entirety of a 3-2 league win against Aalborg.
Panagiotis Kone (Western United/A-League): Missed a comfortable 6-2 win against the Central Coast Mariners.
GERMANY
Konstantinos Mavropanos (Nuremberg/German Bundesliga 2): Missed the 1-0 victory at Karlsruher through injury.
Dimitris Diamantakos (St. Pauli/German Bundesliga 2): Scored in a 3-1 beating of VfL Osnabruck and was later replaced in the 77th minute of proceedings.
Ioannis Gelios (Holstein Kiel/German Bundesliga 2): Conceded three goals in a 3-1 defeat to Hannover 96.
Stelios Kokovas (Bochum/German Bundesliga 2): Not included in the squad for the 4-4 draw with Sandhausen.
Panagiotis Vlachodimos (Grossaspach/3. Liga): Contributed with an assist for the winning goal as his team defeated HFC 1-0 at home. Played 90 minutes.
NETHERLANDS
Konstantinos Lamprou (Vitesse/Eredivisie): The back-up goalkeeper was on the bench as Vitesse were beaten 4-3 by Zwolle on the road.
Giorgos Strezos (Willem II/Eredivisie): An unused substitute in the 3-1 victory against Groningen.
Lazaros Rota (Fortuna Sittard/Eredivisie): Played 90 minutes of a 0-0 draw at VVV Venlo.
Giannis Mystakidis (De Graafschap/Eerste Divisie): Emerged as a substitute in the 58th minute of an emphatic 5-1 victory against Jong AZ Alkmaar at home.
James Efmorfidis (Almere City/Eerste Divisie): On Monday, he played the full match as Almere City were beaten 3-1 by Jong AZ Alkmaar.
BELGIUM
Stergos Marinos (Charleroi/Jupiler League): Did not participate in a 2-0 win against Standard Liege at home.
Nikos Kenourgios (Zulte Waregem/Jupiler League): Used as a substitute in the penultimate minute of a 2-2 draw with Kortrijk.
Dimitris Chatziisaias (Cercle Brugge/Jupiler League): Played 90 minutes of an important 1-0 home win over KAA Gent.
ITALY
Giorgos Kyriakopoulos (Sassuolo/Serie A): Sassuolo did not play this week.
Dimitris Nikolaou (Empoli/Serie B): Played the entire game in the centre of defence as Empoli were beaten 1-0 by Pordenone.
POLAND
Konstantinos Triantafyllopoulos (Pogon/Ekstraklasa): Played the full 90 minutes in defence with his club suffering a 3-1 defeat to Zabrze.
Michalis Manias (Pogon/Ekstraklasa): Used as a substitute in the 63rd minute of the same game.
DENMARK
Theofanis Mavrommatis (SonderjyskE/Danish Superliga): Played the full match with his team losing 3-0 against Midtjylland.
PORTUGAL
Alexandros Voilis (Casa Pia/Liga Pro): Played 90 minutes of a 1-1 draw with Cova da Piedade.
TURKEY
Stelios Kitsiou (Ankaragucu/Turkish Super Lig): Stayed on the pitch for the full match against Sivasspor at home. Ankaragucu lost 3-0.
Andreas Tatos (Altay/Turkish First League): Emerged from the bench for the entire second half of a 1-0 home win against Altinordu.
SCOTLAND
Marios Ogboe (Hamilton/Scottish Premiership): Hamilton will next play on Wednesday against Rangers in Glasgow.
SPAIN
Nikos Vergos (Hercules/Segunda B): Emerged as a substitute in the 0-0 draw with Andorra.
SWITZERLAND
Konstantinos Dimitriou (FC Wil/Swiss Challenge League): FC Wil did not play this weekend.
BULGARIA
Antonis Stergiakos (Slavia Sofia/Parva Liga): Conceded one goal as Slavia defeated Levski Sofia 2-1.
Giannis Kargas (Levski Sofia/Parva Liga): Missed the match against Slavia Sofia.
Dimitris Chantakias (Cherno More/Parva Liga): Received a yellow card while playing 90 minutes of the 1-1 draw at Botev Plovdiv.
HUNGARY
Theodoros Berios (Kisvarda/OTP Bank Liga): Played the entirety of a 2-0 home triumph over PAKS.
Stavros Tsoukalas (Kisvarda/OTP Bank Liga): Started the game against PAKS and was substituted in the 72nd minute.
SLOVAKIA
Dimitris Konstantinidis (Michalovce/Fortuna Liga): Booked by the referee and played 90 minutes of a 1-1 draw against Ruzomberok.
Christos Kountouriotis (Michalovce/Fortuna Liga): Stayed on the bench in the same match.
Giorgos Neofytidis (Michalovce/Fortuna Liga): Used as a substitute in the 76th minute.
Kyriakos Savvidis (Michalovce/Fortuna Liga): Not included in the squad to face Ruzomberok at home.
Dimitris Popovits (Michalovce/Fortuna Liga): Remained on the bench in the same game.
Fanis Tzandaris (Spartak Trnava/Fortuna Liga): Not a member of the squad for a game against Zlate Moravce. His club won 2-1 at home.
SWEDEN
Giannis Anestis (IFK Goteborg/Allsvenskan): Kept a clean sheet with Goteborg beating Sollentuna 2-0 in the Swedish Cup.
AUSTRIA
Taxiarchis Fountas (Rapid Vienna/Austrian Bundesliga): Scored the winning goal in a 3-1 triumph over Mattersburg and was later substituted in the 82nd minute.
Tasos Avlonitis (Sturm Graz/Austrian Bundesliga): Played 90 minutes against Austria Vienna at home. The game ended in a 1-1 draw.
ISRAEL
Andreas Gianniotis (Maccabi Tel Aviv/Israeli Premier League): Watched his team defeat Maccabi Netanya from the comfort of the substitutes’ bench.
SAUDI ARABIA
Savvas Gentsoglou (Al Adalah/Saudi Professional League): Played 90 minutes of a 2-0 defeat to Al Faisaly.
ROMANIA
Aris Soiledis (FCSB/Liga 1): Missed a 2-2 draw against FC Botosani.
AZERBAIJAN
Vangelis Platellas (Neftchi Baku/Premier League): Stayed on the bench during a 1-1 draw against Sabail at home.
Anastasios Papazoglou (Zira/Premier League): Not included in the team for a game with Gabala. Zira lost 2-1.
