Darko, Dudu down Ergotelis

By: Peter Katsiris | November 3rd, 2008

A return home allowed Olympiacos to return to the win column with a 2-0 win over Ergotelis on Sunday. With the visitors coming off a mid-week triumph over Panathinaikos, the match made for a tricky task at the Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium. Thankfully, the Greek Champions were able to shrug off a slump and defeat Ergotelis to stay at the Greek summit.

Under the hot lights of Karaiskaki, Olympiacos started the match positively as Darko Kovacevic looked to open the scoring as early as the third minute. Working hard enough to find space inside the Ergotelis, the prolific Olympiacos striker fired a shot but an alert Fernandes blocked the shot to leave goalkeeper Iosif Daskalakis untested. Moments later Dudu took a try at goal himself, but his shot too was no challenge for Daskalakis.

With the hosts dominating the early minutes of the game, Ergotelis looked to turn the tables with their initial attack on fourteen minutes. Summer signing Rogerio produced a near mirror effort to that of Kovacevic’s, and likewise the result was similar as Raul Bravo acted quickly to block the Brazilian’s effort.

After a flurry of exchanges, Olympiacos finally stamped its authority on the match with a sensational series of offensive surges. The first came just before the hour, as Kovacevic pounced on a pinpoint centering cross from Anastasios Pantos to slot home his fourth goal of the season. The tall Serb positioned himself accordingly in front of goal and his proactive approach gave Olympiacos a 1-0 lead.

Only six minutes later, Olympiacos was celebrating again. This time it was Dudu’s turn to initiate the celebrations, as the Brazilian deposited his first goal in an Olympiacos jersey. A perfect corner from Sebastian Leto found the head of Diogo, whose header rolled to an unmarked Dudu. From there, the former CSKA Moscow star made no mistake as he beat Daskalakis to the bouncing ball and with a delicate poke netted for the ‘Eruthroleuki’.

The Greek Champions held onto the lead until the half time whistle, but their opponents - who troubled Panathinaikos on Wednesday - put up little resistance to challenge the two-goal advantage. It was not that Olympiacos’ defense was in fine-form - in fact its back line was plagued with injuries. Instead, Ergotelis seemed keen on defending with its entire unit; a sense of damage control was reflected in the Cretan club’s approach to the game.

The second half began with Luciano Galletti testing Ergotelis, after the Argentine played out a quiet opening forty-five minutes. The club’s leading scorer was unable to add to his tally of five goals, as the ball swerved away from Daskalakis’ goal.

A few minutes later, and Olympiacos had two opportunities to extend its already commanding lead. First, Galletti had his second effort of the night blocked; and then Sebastian Leto who was in an ideal position to make it 3-0 for the hosts had his shot blocked by a wave of Ergotelis defenders.

Few efforts littered the match from that point, as Olympiacos attacked consistently - but Ergotelis’ defender blocked shots equally as consistent. One notable try came from the visitors, who managed to create a rare opportunity but a goal would not be come by for Nikos Karageorgiou’s side as Fernandes was denied by an unchallenged Antonis Nikopolidis.

With the win, Olympiacos manages to hold on to top spot in Greece - and increasing its lead over second place which is now vacated by Skoda Xanthi. The win itself acts as a confidence boost after a short-lived slump truly degraded Piraeus. Furthermore, Olympiacos reaches the win column just in time for a short road-trip to arch-rivals Panathinaikos next weekend.

For Ergotelis, questions must be asked of manager Nikos Karageorgiou’s tactics. Although Olympiacos was the overwhelming favourite ahead of the match, it must be mentioned that midweek man of the match, Vassilis Koutsianikoulis, only made a late introduction. The Cretans will meet up with Larissa at the Pankritio Stadium in Crete on Sunday.

Olympiacos 2-0 Ergotelis
Kovacevic 28′, Dudu 34′

Yellow Cards:
Olympiacos - A. Papadopoulos 23′, Nikopolidis 92′.
Ergotelis - Fernandes 17′.

Olympiacos (Ernesto Valverde): Nikopolidis, Patsatzoglou, Galletti, Kovacevic (76′ Oscar), Diogo, Zewlakow, Raul Bravo, Dudu, A. Papadopoulos (90′ K. Papadopoulos), Leto (69′ Djordjevic), Pantos.

Ergotelis (Nikos Karageorgiou): Daskalakis, Placenger, Fernandes, Orfanos, Ogounsoto, Kordonouris, Junior (81′ Fragoulakis), Budomir, Grammozis (59′ Romano), Rogerio (59′ Koutsianikoulis), Kennedy.

Venue: Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium, Piraeus, Athens, Greece.