Olympiacos see off Panetolikos to move into second
Olympiacos see off Panetolikos to move into second
GREEK SUPERLEAGUE - MATCHDAY 12
Olympiacos kept up their relentless pursuit of SuperLeague leaders PAOK on Monday with a solid 2-1 home victory over Panetolikos at the Georgios Karaiskakis stadium in Piraeus.
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First-half goals from Daniel Podence and Miguel Angel Guerrero proved enough to seal another vital three-point haul for Pedro Martins’ title challengers, with Alhassan Kamara’s brilliant strike 20 minutes from full-time causing some late nerves but nothing that the home side could not handle.
The result means that Olympiacos stay in touch with PAOK, who also won on Monday 1-0 at Lamia, with the Thessaloniki club leading the standings and holding a six-point gap over the Thrylos in second place.
THE MATCH
Olympiacos, who came into the back of this Matchday 12 contest on the back of a 1-0 defeat to Real Betis in the Europa League, were dominant in all departments in the opening 45 minutes, controlling the ball and rhythm of the match.
And a typically energetic start from the home side ultimately lead to Podence giving the Thrylos the lead after 11 minutes, when his shot goalwards went in via a deflection off Panetolikos’ Brazilian defender Arghus
That goal settled any early nerves and had the visitors firmly on the backfoot, and Olympiacos deservedly went 2-0 ahead in the 25th minute when Kostas Fortounis sent over a free-kick which was headed on by Jagos Vukovic before being prodded home by Miguel Angel Guerrero.
Panetolikos failed to threaten the home goal in the opening half, and it was more of the same for the early part of the second half with Olympiacos almost going three goals to the good in the 63rd minute.
Two chances came in the space of a few seconds, with first Leonardo Koutris stinging the palms of Panetolikos goalkeeper Dimitris Kyriakidis, who pushed the ball impressively wide, and then Guerrero saw an effort thwarted by the visiting custodian.
Panetolikos then scored a goal out of nowhere with their first real chance of the game with 20 minutes left.
Sierra Leone striker Kamara was the man on target, the 25-year-old striker beating both Cisse and Vukovic to score an impressive strike just two minutes after coming on as a substitute in place of Vlad Morar.
That goal set up a nervy finish, but Olympiacos showed solid composure to hold firm and secure an important three points which keeps them in touch with leaders PAOK
STARTING LINEUPS
Olympiacos: 93 Jose Sa, 23, Koutris, 26 Vukovic, 66 Cisse, 14 Omar, 4 Camara, 12 Guilherme, 56 Daniel Podence, 7 Fortounis, 17 Leiva, 9 Guerrero
Panetolikos: 82 Kyriakidis, 20 Rocha, 88 Arghus, 44 Chandakis, 21 Marinakis, 18 Lucero, 11 Diaz, 94 Barbosa, 10 Mazurek, 7 Mana, 73 Morar
by Graham Wood
Image Source: onsports.gr
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