Martins: “We competed at a good level”
Following the narrow loss to Arsenal in Piraeus, Olympiacos coach Pedro Martins mentioned the lack of accuracy in front of goal, while Mikel Arteta was satisfied with the result.
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In a tight, tense first leg of the UEFA Europa League Round of 32, Olympiacos bossed the majority of proceedings against Arsenal, notably applying plenty of pressure during the second half. However, with nine minutes remaining, Alexandre Lacazette scored at point blank range to register a potentially decisive away goal for Arsenal, who head back to London with an advantage intact.
Olympiacos boss, Pedro Martins, rued the lack of effectiveness in front of goal: “Football is all about taking your chances, and we didn’t do that,” admitted the Portuguese coach. “It’s always painful to concede a goal in the closing minutes. Overall, we competed at a good level today, playing with intensity. Sadly, unlike us, the opponents did manage to take advantage of their opportunity. It was only the first half of the tie, however, so we will travel to London with confidence of turning this around. The game will be open. We have a good team with talented players, so I do have belief.”
Arsenal head coach, Mikel Arteta, was happy to achieve a positive result at the Karaiskakis Stadium: “Credit to our players for winning at a tough ground like this,” revealed the Spanish manager. “We suffered during the first 10 minutes of the game, giving the ball away too easily and failing to gain any momentum. However, we controlled the match much better in the second half, and we could have put ourselves in an even better position ahead of the second leg in England. This is a really good result for us. It’s never easy to win away in Europe.”
“This was a tough match against a great opponent,” said Kostas Fortounis, who was used as a substitute in the second half by Olympiacos. “We demonstrated that we can compete against these teams. In my opinion, we played well today, and we will continue moving forward. Unfortunately, we conceded a goal despite our solid play.”
Olympiacos defender Ruben Semedo agreed that the hosts performed well on the night: “We played well, created several opportunities to score, but our finishing was lacking. We conceded a disappointing goal when we were in full control of the match. My booking? I didn’t know that I would be suspended for the second leg if I received a yellow card today. We shouldn’t focus on who plays, though. The team must prepare for the second game in the best possible way.”
“It was a good performance, the main thing is that we scored an away goal and have a clean sheet,” stated match-winner Alexandre Lacazette. “Yes, we wanted to score more goals, but in the end a one-goal advantage to take away from Greece is good. I would like to thank Bukayo Saka for the assist, I feel really happy to have scored this important goal for us.”
Arsenal goalkeeper Bernd Leno, a solid figure between the sticks for the Gunners, was satisfied with the clean sheet: “When you don’t concede any goals, you’re always happy. My job is to make saves for Arsenal. We won, we have the away goal, so we can leave here satisfied.”
