Olympiacos held up by Panionios in Nea Smyrni
Olympiacos held up by Panionios in Nea Smyrni
SUPER LEAGUE - MATCHDAY 11
Olympiacos surprisingly dropped two points on Saturday as Super League 1 strugglers Panionios battled back from a goal behind to salvage a 1-1 draw in Nea Smyrni.
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Mathieu Valbuena opened the scoring for Olympiacos from the penalty spot after 55 minutes, and looked to have earned three previous points for Pedro Martins’ side, who did not have an easy time against a rejuvenated Panionios side.
But the home side battled back and drew level two minutes from time with a strike from Dimitris Emmanouilidis, a goal which sent the home fans into frenzied celebrations as their recent revival following a woeful start to the season gathered pace.
The result means Olympiacos are now just three points clear of second-placed PAOK, who can move level on 27 points with their title rivals from Piraeus should they beat Larissa at the Toumba on Sunday.
That would set up a mouth-watering derby clash between Olymiacos and PAOK at the Georgios Karaiskakis stadium next Sunday.
THE MATCH
This Matchday 11 clash featured first versus worst. The Erythrolefki were making the small hop over to Nea Smyrni hoping to keep their lead atop the standings, with one eye also on next week’s upcoming Champions’ League tie against Tottenham.
Olympiacos knew they needed to be wary of overlooking Panionios. They may be bottom of the table with a paltry two points, but Niki Papavasiliou’s men have erased a six-point deduction to start the season and came into this match aiming to climb further up the table after recording a 2-1 away win at high-flying Xanthi a fortnight back.
The first half was a closely-fought affair, with neither side able to find a breakthrough. That was due to a combination of a well-organised Panionios side who had clearly done their homework on their illustrious opponents.
Olympiacos enjoyed the lion’s share of possession, but more often than not their build-up play broke down in the final third. That was until Portuguese winger Daniel Podence switched sides and played on the left.
After that the visitors began to create opportunities, with two clear cut chances before half-time which could have brought them the opening goal.
The Thrylos first real sight of goal came after 12 minutes when Maximiliano Lovera headed a Podence cross goalwards. Fortunately for the home side, goalkeeper Jeremy Malherbe was equal to it and parried the ball to safety.
While the home side did not threaten the Olmypiacos goal in the opening 45 minutes, the visitors had to wait until 43 minutes to threaten again. This time Spanish forward Miguel Angel Guerrero attempted to score with a header from another Podence cross but the ball flashed narrowly past Malherbe’s right post.
Valbuena was brought on to replace the largely ineffective Lovera at half-timer, and his impact was significant, adding urgency as well as a touch of finesse to the team’s passing game.
Olympiacos were literally handed the opportunity to take the lead in the 55th minute when Giannis Papanikolaou committed a handball from a Bruno Gaspar cross. Their were vociferous and the protests from the home players. However, a VAR review confirmed the decision and the referee pointed to the spot.
Frenchman Valbuena then kept his cool to convert the spot-kick and put the Red and Whites ahead.
Panionios sought to respond but all they could muster was a tame effort from Pedro Kace which Olympiacos goalkeeper Jose Sa gathered comfortably.
Malherbe was called into action again on 79 minutes to stop a long-range strike from Valbuena, and Gaspar couldn't force home the rebound.
As the match wore on Panionios grew desperate in their attempts to get on level terms and their efforts paid off when substitute Emmanouilidis danced around Olympiacos left-back Kostas Tsimikas before beating Sa to spark jubilant scenes among the home fans.
Olympiacos piled on the pressure in the closing stages in an attempt to win the match, but Malherbe produced a stunning save to deny Valbuena from a set-piece in the dying seconds.
STARTING LINEUPS
Panionios: 67 Malherbe (Gk), 22 Papageorgiou, 13 Lymberakis, 4 Evangelou, 14 Stavropoulos, 27 Papanikolaou, 7 Korbos, 16 Ikonomidis, 20 Arce, 10 Arabuli, 31 Masouras
Olympiacos: 1 Sa (Gk), 21 Tsimikas, 20 Meriah, 3 Semedo, 76 Gaspar, 5 Bouhalakis, 4 Camara, 22 Lovera, 2 Soudani, 10 Podence, 9 Guerrero
by Graham Wood
Image Source: sportfm.gr
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