Late drama wreaks rewards for Olympiacos

By: Peter Katsiris | December 24th, 2008

It took longer than expected, but at the end of ninety minutes — plus a good set of five minutes added time — Olympiacos emerged as 2-1 winners over Thrasyvoulos at the Giorgos Karaiskakis Stadium on Sunday. Sebastian Leto’s scintillating first half strike put the hosts ahead, only to have Thrasyvoulos claw back with an equalizer from Giannis Chloros just before the half hour mark. Despite asserting plenty of pressure throughout the match, it took a penalty kick in the dying moments of stoppage time for Olympiacos to snatch another win ahead of the winter break.

Still on a high from their 4-0 defeat of Hertha Berlin, Olympiacos was coming to the end of a busy week which saw the Greek Champions extend their UEFA Cup campaign and learn their opponents for the next round of the UEFA’s inferior competition.

For Thrasyvoulos, it was a daunting trip to on of the cathedrals of Greek football. Already in last place, the latter half of 2008 was not as rewarding as its predecessor, with the Fyli club failing to build upon its promotion to the Greek top flight. Facing the league leaders would be a mountainous task, but the club named after an ancient Greek general was prepared for a battle.

Despite plenty of fatigue reflected on Ernesto Valverde’s side, Olympiacos came out gunning for a quick opener; leaving Thrasyoulos clinging to the 0-0 score line. Though the pressure was excruciating, Olympiacos failed to grace the back of the goal as Thrasyvoulos ‘keeper Peterson Pecanha kept the Greek Champions at bay.

With their Brazilian back stopper assuring Thrasyvoulos would put up a fight, the visitors looked to take advantage of their opponent’s frustration by nearly gallivanting to the lead on fourteen minutes. Manuel Barrientos released a shot to conclude a well crafted play by the Thrasyvoulos offense. The effort was not as well executed, as the Argentine saw his try curl way wide of Antonis Nikopolidis’ goal.

Four minutes on and Olympiacos narrowly found the breakthrough, but Darko Kovacevicfailed to make the visitors pay with his eighteenth minute strike – allowing the match to remain scoreless.

That feat didn’t hold up for too long for Thrasyvoulos, as the Super League leaders displayed their offensive attributes on twenty minutes. Leto showed his speed as he sliced the Thrasyvoulos defense on his way into the box, before he released a laser-like shot on goal and past Pecanha.

The lead didn’t last long, however, as both sides were drawn level only nine minutes after the initial breakthrough. Thrasyvoulos hushed the home crowd with a quick equalizer on twenty-nine minutes, as Chloros headed home a right bound cross past Nikopolidis.

About five minutes later, and the ‘Erythrolefki’ advantage was nearly restored. Fernando Belluschi sent a rocketed effort on goal, but Pecanha was up to the task and produced a fine save.

Then it was time for Dudu to be rejected by Pecanha, as the former CSKA Moscow midfielder had his long distance attempt blocked by his patriot in goal for Thrasyvoulos.

Stunned by their opponents’ ability to erase the defecit, Olympiacos looked to put the game out of reach in the second half. An interval was what the home side needed to regroup after a shocking opening forty-five minutes.

For Thrasyvoulos, one half in Piraeus had figuratively purged all the bad the Fyli team had undergone for the opening half of their first ever Super League season. The minnows of Greece’s top flight didn’t play to their title ahead of the restart, and were on the verge of stirring up an upset at the home of the defending champions.

Fearing embarrassment, Olympiacos wasted little time after the restart and resumed its approach to raid the Thraysvoulos defense. Oscar Gonzalez had the first chance of the second frame; the Spaniard connected with a Raul Bravo cross but the header lacked direction and was easily save by Pecanha.

A similar play occurred just three minutes later, but this time it was Dudu who found Kovacevic with a cross. The Serbian striker was not as accurate as Oscar was minutes ago, with the ball ending up out of bounds to end the attack in disappointment.

Disappointment was the feeling Leto had when his goal in the first half was cancelled out just minutes later. The on-loan Liverpool midfielder looked to give his side the lead for the second time of the match just after the hour mark, and looked well on his way to do so when he chipped his effort over a stranded Pecanha. An alert Marlon Ventura, however, was quick enough to foil the play as he blocked the effort which was bound for the back of the net.

The tide changed with about wtenty minutes left in the match at Karaiskaki. With the crowd growing restless, the visitors pushed for a second goal just after the seventy minute mark. A stellar cross into the box found Efstathios Karamalikis inside Olympiacos territory, and the Greek nearly sent his side ahead of the Greek Champions. Nikopolidis assured this was not the case as the former Greece international produced a stunning save to deflect Karamalikis’ out for a corner.

Off the ensuing corner Wellington Gonsalves had an opportunity to give the visitors the lead, but Nikopolidis was perfectly positioned to deny the Brazilian striker.

One of the most unlikely scorers found himself with an optimal opportunity on eighty-three minutes, as center back Paraskevas Antzas was fed the ball inside the Thrasyvoulos box but couldn’t grab a goal as he rung his effort off the crossbar.

Now in stoppage time, Olympiacos grew desperate for a goal while Thrasyvoulos looked to clamp down in defense and seal a memorable result in the outskirts of the Greek capital.

By the opening minutes of stoppage time, Olympiacos proved it was not meant to be as ‘O Thrylos’ was awarded a penalty after Efstathios Rokas brought down Dudu inside the Thrasyvoulos frame. Luciano Galletti, who was a substitute just before the hour mark, stepped up to take the spot kick. He made no mistake in his approach, and beat Pecanha to push Olympiacos ahead at the death.

It was a bitter loss for Thrasyvoulos, while Olympiacos added to its perfect streak at home and restored its six point lead on PAOK atop of the Super League standings.

Both teams join the remaining Greek Super League clubs on a two week winter break, but will return to action two days after the New Year. Olympiacos will travel south to Tripolis, and hope to improve on their 1-0 loss at the hands of Asteras Tripolis from a year ago.

Thrasyvoulos will be hoping the start of 2009 will allow the Fyli club to purge its poor opening half to the year, and plan to do so at home to Larissa on January 4^th.

Olympiacos CFP 2-1 Thrasyvoulos
Leto 20′, Galletti 90′+ — Chloros 29′

Yellow Cards:
Olympiacos CFP – Raul Bravo 80′, Djordjevic 84′.
Thrasyvoulos – Barrientos 36′, Rokas 60′, Pecanha 90′+.

Olympiacos CFP (Ernesto Valverde): Nikopolidis, Patsatzoglou (82′ Djordjevic), Oscar (58′ Galletti), Kovacevic, Zewlakow, Raul Bravo, Antzas, Dudu, Leto, Belluschi, Pantos (65′ Torosidis).

Thrasyvoulos (Sakis Tsiolis): Pecanha, Ventura, Sotirchos, Rokas, Rocastle, Liapakis (90′+ Kozlei), Chloros, Barientos (58′ Karamalikis), Belegrinis, Katsikis, Wellington (77′ Alves).

Referee: Giorgos Kastanidis

Venue: Giorgos Karaiskakis Stadium, Piraeus, Greece.