Quick-fire goals earn 10-man Olympiacos another win
SUPER LEAGUE - MATCHDAY 10
Two goals in two second-half minutes helped Olympiacos to a 2-0 home win over Atromitos at the Georgios Karaiskakis stadium in Piraeus on Sunday evening in a match which saw Avram Papadopoulos red-carded.
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Daniel Podence and Hilal Soudani did the damage on the hour mark with two quick-fire goals which delivered a sucker punch to Atromitos, who had battled creditably for a draw up to that point.
Papadopoulos then received his marching orders on 67 minutes for a professional foul on Giorgos Daviotis.
Despite the numerical disadvantage, Olympiacos were able to keep any Atromtios threat at bay to claim another important three points which took Pedro Martins’ side back to the top of the Super League table, two points clear of PAOK.
THE MATCH
After another disappointing European night in the Champions League that ended in defeat against Bayern Munich, Olympiacos looked to bounce back in the league against Atromitos, who have endured their fair share of misfortune and inconsistency this season.
Pedro Martin’s Thrylos team are still unbeaten in the Super League, and the aim was to keep that run going on their home turf against Yiannis Anastasiou’s team. The home side set about their task in the right way, threatening the Atromitos goal after nine minutes when Balazs Megyeri saved Kostas Tsimikas’ shot with his legs after good play between Tsimikas and Andreas Bouchalakis.
Atromitos responded quickly, however, and wasted a golden chance to open the scoring just four minutes later. Rodrigo Galo’s brilliant free-kick was headed goalwards by Daviotis, but Olympiacos goalkeeper Jose Sa, like he has done so many times already this season, produced a superb full-stretch save to deny the Atromitos man.
Next it was Megyeri’s turn to show off his shot-stopping prowess. The Hungarian goalkeeper, who had a stint at Olympiacos from 2010 - 2015, brilliantly parried a close-range shot from Papadopoulos to safety when the goal was at the veteran defender’s mercy.
The first-half finished goalless, with Atromitos looking in good shape and just about deserving of the draw at that stage.
But there was another 45 minutes to come, and in the second half, Olympiacos took complete control of possession, forcing the visitors back deep into their own half and not allowing them to exchange anything more than a few passes between them before they surrendered possession.
It seemed like a matter of when, not if, Olympiacos would score given the possession they had and the pressure they were applying on the visitors’ goal, and the breakthrough came on 60 minutes.
Bouchalakis released Podence with an intelligent pass, and the Portuguese fired in a shot which found its way into the net via a deflection off Atromitos defender Dimitris Goutas.
That came as a sickening blow for Atromitos, and their heads dropped even further when they conceded again two minutes later. This time Soudani was the man on target, sending a first-time effort past Megyeri from Yousseff El-Arabi’s assist.
That appeared game set and match to Olympiacos. But then Papadopoulos was robbed off possession by Daviotis and immediately fouled the Atromitos man which earned the Olympiacos defender a straight red card.
That gave the attacking impetus to Atromitos to go and try and get something from the game in the final 20 minutes, but the Peristeri club failed to threaten the home goal as Olympiacos shut up shop to hold on to the three points.
STARTING LINEUPS
Olympiacos: 1 Sa (GK), 2 Soudani, 3 Semedo, 5 Bouhalakis, 8 Guilherme, 10 Podence, 11 El-arabi, 14 Elabdellaoui, 19 Masouras, 21 Tsimikas, 34 Papadopoulos
Atromitos: 16 Megyeri (GK), 4 Goutas, 6 Harissis, 21 Garoufalias, 12 Galo, 55 Talocha, 3 Katranis, 9 Manousos, 27 Daviotis, 44 Risvanis, 20 Giakoumakis
