Thrylos take derby honours
Thrylos take derby honours
SUPER LEAGUE PLAYOFFS - MATCHDAY 10
Super League champions Olympiacos ended their season on a high note with a 3-0 derby win over AEK on Sunday at the Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium in Piraeus.
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Pedro Martins’ Erythrolefki claimed all three points thanks to goals from Mathieu Valbuena, Lazar Randjelovic, and Mady Camara, with Massimo Carrera’s AEK side unfortunate not to also get on the scoresheet.
The result, coupled with PAOK’s goalless draw at home against Aris, means that AEK have to settle for a place in the Europa League qualifiers, while Olympiacos lifted the Super League trophy for the first time since 2017.
The Piraeus club’s attention now turns to the upcoming UEFA Europa League Round of 16 second-leg tie against Wolves on August 6th.
THE MATCH
AEK traveled to Piraeus with the aim of pulling off an epic turnaround. The Kitrinomavri knew they had to beat champions Olympiacos and hope that Aris win against PAOK at the Toumba. That scenario would see AEK overtake deposed champions PAOK and claim second position, and a spot in the Champions League qualifiers.
Olympiacos started the match strongly, creating two opportunities inside the first three minutes. First in the opening minute Lazar Randjelovic played in Youssef El Arabi, but the Moroccan’s shot was too weak. Then, two minutes later El Arabi fluffed his lines again from a Mathieu Valbuena center, firing a shot wide of AEK goalkeeper Panagiotis Tsintota’s right post.
AEK finally woke from their slumber in the eighth minute, and midfielder Damian Szymanski curled in a shot on goal from Petros Mandalos’ pass, only to see his effort sail narrowly over Olympiacos ‘keeper Jose Sa’s crossbar.
Then, two minutes later, Olympiacos were in front. A neat passing move ended with Kostas Fortounis provided a headed assist to Frenchman Valbuena, who applied a clinical finish to make it 1-0 to the hosts.
The home side then fashioned two chances in quick succession on 17 and 18 minutes, with first Randjelovic drawing a fine save from Tsintotas, before Papa Abou Cisse had a header parried away by the AEK goalkeeper.
Those were warning shots and just one minute after Daniele Verde spurned a decent opening for AEK, Olympiacos went straight down the other end and went 2-0 up in the 21st minute.
Fortounis produced an exquisite pass to release Randjelovic, and the Serbian striker weaved past Michalis Bakakis before beating Tsintotas with a brilliant curled finish.
That goal took the wind out of AEK’s sails, as the Kitrinomavri were coming back into the match and looking dangerous, but they kept fighting and finished the half strongly. Mandalos showed some good touches to get into a good position but his shot was tame, while Verde worked himself some space in the box but saw his shot saved by Sa.
AEK had it all to do in the second half, and they began in the right way, creating two very good chances through Mandalos on 53 and 59 minutes. However, the AEK skipper missed the target with the first shot, and saw his second effort saved well by Sa.
A swathe of substitutions and a cooling break interrupted the rhythm, especially for AEK, and the tempo dropped as the game headed into the final 20 minutes.
It was then that the home side got their third goal through Camara. After a defensive mix-up between Marios Economou and Andre Simoes, Fortounis found Valbuena and the Frenchman had a go at goal. His shot was cleared off the line, but Camara was on hand to bury the rebound and make it 3-0.
That was the last of the goalmouth action as Olympiacos celebrated another win in what has been a great season for the Thrylos.
STARTING LINEUPS
Olympiacos: 1 Sa (Gk), 21 Tsimikas, 24 Ba, 66 Cisse, 76 Gaspar, 8 Guilherme, 4 Camara, 28 Valbuena, 7 Fortounis, 97 Randelovic, 11 El-Arabi
AEK: 16 Tsintotas (Gk), 2 Bakakis, 4 Economou, 24 Svarnas, 27 Paulinho, 5 Szymanski, 8 Simoes, 14 Albanis, 20 Mandalos, 7 Verde, 11 Araujo
Image Source: sport-fm.gr
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