Olympiacos Back to Winning Ways in Seven-goal Thriller
GREEK SUPERLEAGUE - MATCHDAY 7
| Panionios | 3 - 4 | Olympiacos |
|---|---|---|
| Spiridonovic 3' Shojae (p) 83' Durmishaj 84' |
Cisse 19' Ansarifard 37', 45' Fortounis (p) 87' |
Olympiacos recorded a first win in the SuperLeague since August on Saturday after beating Panionios 4-3 in an enthralling Matchday 7 clash in Nea Smyrni.
Takis Lemonis’ team, who have had their worst start to a season for 30 years, finally returned to winning ways after a rollercoaster of a match during which the lead changed hands several times.
Olympiacos looked to be cruising to a comfortable 3-1 win after a double from Iran striker Karim Ansarifard and Senegal defender Pape Abou Cissé cancelled out an early opener for Panionios from their young Austrian forward Srđan Spiridonović, who had netted after just three minutes.
But Panionios had other ideas and two strikes within two minutes, one a penalty from Masoud Shojaei eight minutes from time, and another goal from Albanian forward Fiorin Durmishaj a minute later made it 3-3.
That was not the end of the late drama, however, as Kostas Fortounis slotted home an 87th-minute penalty to win the match for the visitors in a breathless finish to a truly absorbing match.
The result allowed Olympiacos to climb up from eighth to fourth spot, and they are now just two points behind leaders AEK Athens, who play at Xanthi tomorrow.
Things did not start well at all in Nea Smyrni for Olympiacos with Spiridonović scoring to put the home side’s fans in dreamland.
But the visitors kept their heads and pulled level after 19 minutes through Cissé, who scored with a towering header from Kostas Fortounis’ precise free-kick.
Olympiacos should have gone 2-0 up a minute later but Colombian striker Felipe Pardo was denied by the woodwork.
The visitors’ were growing in confidence, however, and the second goal came in the 37th minute when Ansarifard raced clear to side-foot past home keeper Matic Kotnik.
Ansarifard then timed his second strike perfectly, firing home a rebound from Pardo’s long range effort which was saved by Kotnik right on the stroke of half-time to deliver a sucker punch to the home side who were looking to get to half-time just one goal down in order to regroup for the second half.
It looked at that point that the scoring was finished, but then came the late drama with Olympiacos coming out on top.
