Olympiacos cruise past Xanthi to go top 
 

SUPER LEAGUE - MATCHDAY 22

Olympiacos knocked PAOK off top spot in the Super League on Saturday evening after putting Xanthi to the sword comfortably by a 3-1 scoreline at the Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium in Piraeus.

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Hilal Soudani opened the scoring for the Thrylos after just five minutes, converting a cross from Youseff El-Arabi, while El-Arabi scored from close range just before half-time to put the home side in firm control.

Vasilis Fasidis turned the ball past his own goalkeeper seven minutes into the second half from a Soudni cross to complete the hosts’ scoring.

Xanthi pulled back a late consolation goal from the penalty spot.

The win saw Olympiacos leapfrog PAOK, moving top of the table with 54 points, opening up a two-point gap ahead of their title rivals from Thessaloniki, who face Panathinaikos at the Olympic Stadium on Sunday. 

Xanthi, meanwhile, remain in seventh place in the standings with 27 points from 22 matches played so far.

THE MATCH

Last week’s scoreless draw at AEK saw Olympiacos knocked off the top of the table and the Thrylos also lost Daniel Podence to Wolves.

And Pedro Martins’ team came into this match aiming to rebound against Xanthi. Still unbeaten all season ahead of this match, Olympiacos were already well-placed in their title challenge against a Xanthi team who are locked in a battle for sixth place with OFI Crete.

Olympiacos began on the front foot in front of a vociferous home crowd, and they were 1-0 ahead after five minutes. El-Arabi intercepted possession and surged forward before squaring for Soudani to score from 12 yards out.

That goal knocked the stuffing out of Xanthi, and the visitors were almost 2-0 down on 11 minutes when Mathieu Valbuena headed against the post of Carlos Abad’s goal, and then Soudani somehow missed the target from the rebound.

Xanthi struggled to get their foot on the ball and to get any rhythm going from their side in the opening 45 minutes as they simply tried to contain an enthusiastic and eager Olympiacos side who looked hungry for goals.

Olympiacos continued to look threatening going forward, and they opened up Xanthi again just two minutes before half-time to double the advantage.

Frenchman Valbuena sent-over a brilliant free-kick into the Xanthi penalty area and the ball found its way to the feet of El-Arabi, and the Moroccan made no mistake with a side-footed effort to easily beat Abad.

The pattern of the game did not change in the second half, with Xanthi clearly lacking in the quality required to trouble the hosts, who seemed to be playing in third gear and able to score at will.

And the third goal soon came in the 52nd minute. Soudani was once again in the thick of the action, sending over a cross that was turned past his own goalkeeper at full stretch by Fasidis, who tried to get the ball ahead of Olympiacos forward Giorgos Masouras.

Xanthi managed to get on the scoresheet 20 minutes from the end when Ruben Semedo fouled his opponent in the penalty area and the visitors were awarded a spot kick. Castro stepped up and made no mistake from 11 meters to pull one back for the Akrites.

The final stages saw little threat from either side as Olympiacos comfortably held onto their two-goal advantage and for the time being, sit atop the Super League standings.

STARTING LINEUPS

Olympiacos: 1 Sa (Gk), 21 Tsimikas, 24 Ba, 3 Semedo, 14 Elabdellaoui, 5 Bouhalakis, 8 Guilherme, 28 Valbuena, 2 Soudani, 19 Masouras, 11 El-arabi

Xanthi: 1 Abad (Gk), 22 Casado, 4 Karasalidis, 31 Lisgaras, 27 Fasidis, 25 Sosa, 9 Kovacevic, 18 Thimianis, 12 Teixeira, 3 Barrientos, 87 Castro

HIGHLIGHTS

by Graham Wood

Image Source: onsports.gr

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