Martins pleased with Olympiacos reaction, Dyche not happy with referee
Olympiacos’ dramatic 3:1 victory over Burnley in the first leg of the UEFA Europa League playoffs pleased head coach Pedro Martins, while visiting manager Sean Dyche wasn’t happy with the referee.
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With the backing of the atmospheric Karaiskakis Stadium behind them, the Thrylos started well against Burnley, opening the scoring with an inch-perfect Konstantinos Fortounis free kick. However, Burnley managed to equalise as Chris Wood scored a penalty, and the English outfit were looking comfortable. To the relief of the Olympiacos faithful, the hosts came good in the second half, as Andreas Bouchalakis nodded a set piece home and Fortounis netted a spot kick after Ben Gibson was shown a red card.
Thrylos coach Pedro Martins was satisfied with the way his players responded to Burnley’s play in Piraeus: “Early on, we allowed Burnley to play their own game, but then we reacted,” stated Martins. “We should have had a penalty for the foul against Daniel Podence, something which would have given us a 2:0 lead. If anyone wants to complain about the refereeing, it should be Olympiacos.
At half time, I told the players to be calm and retain emotional control. Thank you to the fans inside the arena, the atmosphere was amazing. We will work hard this year to make them happy.”
Sean Dyche still feels that Burnley have a good chance of progressing to the Europa League group stages: “We’re a strong team and we will react to this 1:3 loss, there are still chances for us to qualify,” revealed the Burnley boss. “The referee? We received strict instructions to respect his decisions, however there is a sense that we were hard done by. I think that our fans feel a sense of injustice.
Until the sending off, we played really well and it was a very balanced affair. We’ll never know what the result would have been without the red card.”
Konstantinos Fortounis, who was the Olympiacos hero with two goals, shared his emotions from the first leg victory: ‘We started strongly and had chances to extend our advantage, but then Burnley struck. My personal performance? I worked really hard over the summer and I have quality players around me. In England, Burnley have to come out and play aggressively, so we should have openings on the counterattack. We’ve shown that we’re superior.”
Left-back Konstantinos Tsimikas will focus on the Super League battle with Levadiakos ahead of the return in England: “Today, we could have achieved more than just three goals, but now we have to play Levadiakos in the domestic championship,” said the talented 22-year old. “3:1 isn’t a safe score, English teams are always very dangerous. Technically, we are a better team, but you can never predict what will happen. I will do everything to help Olympiacos win.”
