Herrera feels defeat unjust, Martins thinks Olympiacos victory was deserved

Following a close 0:1 loss to Olympiacos in the Super League, Aris manager Paco Herrera stated that football is often an unfair game, while Pedro Martins was pleased with the positive outcome.

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Having lost three consecutive Super League matches, Aris were aiming to snap their poor run on Sunday, however Olympiacos edged an even contest 1:0 at the Kleanthis Vikelidis Stadium. In the first half, Konstantinos Fortounis somehow missed the target at point blank range, before Aris forward Nicolas Diguiny saw a powerful header tipped over the bar by the solid Jose Sa. Egyptian striker Ahmed Hassan tapped Leonardo Koutris’ cross into the gaping net on 67 minutes for the winner, and despite Aris’ subsequent efforts to find an equaliser, the reliable Olympiacos defence kept them off the board.

Aris head coach Paco Herrera felt his players performed well against Olympiacos, however he admitted that they need to start scoring more goals: “Overall, we played well, but football is unfair sometimes,” stated the 64-year old Spaniard. “We conceded a goal at a time when Olympiacos weren’t actually dangerous. I’m very pleased with how we competed in the second half and we need to continue working.

In the first four matches of the season, we didn’t have a problem scoring goals, but the opponents were weaker. We must score more goals, but the players are doing their best to create opportunities and take advantage of them. The Olympiacos coach said that we have the basis of a great team. The fans booed us at the end of the match? It’s natural to be angry after losing. My experience in football tells me that if we keep working hard with passion and desire, everything will be fine in the end.

I accept that it’s difficult for the supporters to understand this after a defeat, but Aris is a team with a bright future. Practically all of these players only joined the club this summer.”

Olympiacos boss Pedro Martins thinks that the Piraeus club deserved the three points against tricky opponents: “On the balance of play, we were worthy of the victory,” revealed Martins. “We created plenty of chances to score and fought really hard during the second half. Aris’ performance? They caused us problems and tried to make us panic. Nevertheless, we had a clear game plan, and we managed to score the crucial goal. Aris have a clever manager with excellent players, so we were expecting a tricky match.

In the first half, we didn’t allow Aris to take the initiative and should have scored. We did not give Aris space on the pitch. This was a good match for us in which we displayed our determination.”

by Shaun Nicolaides

Image Source: sport-fm.gr

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