Galletti penalty pinches Asteras for three points in Tripoli

By: Peter Katsiris | January 4th, 2009

Olympiacos started the New Year the same way they ended last year with another 1-0 win and another penalty goal from Luciano Galletti providing the solitary marker on the scoreboard. In what was a sluggish encounter between the two, defensive minded strategies resulted in Olympiacos emerging victorious in rainy Tripoli.

With plenty of breathing space atop the Super League standings, Olympiacos had enough insurance if away troubles were to continue against Asteras. Though the performance was not outstanding, nor attractive, the side which continues totally opposite at their own home ground managed to collect yet another narrow road win.

For Asteras, Tripoli was the cradle of success for the side ‘Asteria’ last season – beating the likes of Olympiacos, Panathinaikos, AEK, and PAOK at the Tripoli Stadum. Though they held the best offensive team in the league to few decent chances, Asteras was unable to provide an encore presentation of their 1-0 win over the Greek Champions from a year ago.

After a moment of silence in the honour of Olympiacos legend Achilleas Grammitikopoulos, who passed away on Tuesday, Asteras nearly caught the visitors off guard as early as the second minute. Zaouad Zairi tested Olympiacos ‘keeper with a hard shot, but the task was simple for the Greek keeper.

Zairi’s early attempt was the only meaningful effort in the early moments of the match, with heavily soaked pitch anchoring either side’s attack and making it difficult for the match to pick up pace.

Once Olympiacos finally found its way into Asteras’ end, Fernando Belluschi marked the event with a shot soaring just over Giorgos Abaris’ goal on eighteen minutes; resulting in a waste of what was a fine run by Belluschi to the edge of the Asteras box.

About eight minutes later, Olympiacos was rewarded on just its second rush into Asteras end of the pitch. Nikos Lazaridis brought down Diogo inside the box, and referee Vasilis Pamporidis immediately pointed to the spot as Olympiacos was awarded a penalty on twenty-six minutes.

Luciano Galletti showed plenty of composure in his approach, and did not disappoint with the finish as a shot from the spot put Olympiacos ahead just before the half hour mark.

It took Asteras fourteen minutes to muster a reply, but when they did the effort was not good enough to find its way to the back of the net. Petros Kanakoudis provided a cross off an Asteras free kick, but defender Emmanouil Psomas sent a header curling wide of Nikopolidis’ right post.

After a rather uneventful opening half, Olympiacos was fortunate to have the advantage heading into the interval. Asteras, meanwhile, created a few more opportunities than their guests but it was a lack of accuracy and conviction holding back Nikos Kostenoglou’s men.

Olympiacos came out gunning after the restart, and when Sebastian Leto played a fine cross towards Diogo the latter nearly extended Olympiacos’ lead just one minute into the second frame; however, ‘keeper Abaris Olympiacos kept in check as Diogo was denied by an Abaris block.

Abaris then denied Christos Patsatzoglou on fifty-two minutes with a fine save, before Diogo whistled the rebound just wide of the goal.

Shortly after Diogo’s near miss, the Brazilian was accurate on his next goalwards effort but a stubborn Abaris disallowed Diogo from adding to his season tally of four goals.

At the other end, Asteras registered its first chance of the second half on the hour mark. The hosts, who endured a pressured opening quarter of an hour to start the second half, arguably had the best chance of the match to secure a goal when Lucio Filomeno smashed his shot against the right post. A follow-up effort from Kanakoudis was easily handled by Nikopolidis.

It wasn’t until the seventy-second that Asteras had another chance to level the match, as Flavio received a looping ball from an Asteras free kick but despite an attractive outlet sent towards the Brazilian, the former Botafogo back liner finished the play with a poor effort on goal.

Zairi had his second chance of the match on seventy-seven minutes, and this edition has much more power behind it but it instead lacked accuracy and landed way wide of the Olympiacos goal.

Olympiacos had one final chance in the first minute of stoppage time; even with the time nearing its end for Asteras, Olympiacos looked likely to extend their lead through Brazilian midfielder Dudu. The former CSKA Moscow nearly put the game beyond doubt with a shot from the edge of the box, but Abaris came to the rescue to keep the deficit at 1-0.

Asteras Tripolis 0-1 Olympiacos CFP
Galletti (pen.) 27′

Yellow Cards:
Asteras Tripolis – Kanakoudis 13′, Psomas 36′, Ereros 70′.
Olympiacos CFP – A. Papadopoulos 16′, Domi 71′.

Asteras Tripolis (Nikos Kostenoglou): Abaris, Fytanidis (46′ Ereros), Lazaridis, Psomas, Kanakoudis, Flavio, Cardozo (68′ Bastia), Filomeno, Ladakis (85′ Rokas), Zairi, Kaounos.

Olympiacos CFP (Ernesto Valverde): Nikopolidis, Patsatzoglou, DOmi (76′ Pantos), Galletti, Diogo, Antzas, Dudu, A. Papadopoulos, Leto (62′ Djordjevic), Belluschi (89′ Mendrinos), Torosidis.

Referee: Vasilis Pamporidis

Venue: Asteras Tripolis Stadium, Tripoli, Greece