Koutsianikoulis strike upsets Olympiacos

By: Peter Katsiris | February 23rd, 2009

In the end it may be a blessing in disguise, but on Sunday night Ergotelis handed Olympiacos its second defeat of the Super League season with a 1-0 defeat of the Greek Champions at the Pankritio Stadium in Heraklion. Greek prospect Vasilis Koutsianikoulis showed why the likes of Panathinaikos and Olympiacos are seeking his services, as the highly rated starlet grabbed the game’s only goal.

Already coming off a defeat at the hands of Saint-Etienne last Wednesday, it was the second time this season that Olympiacos dropped two consecutive matches. With a patched up side taking to the pitch at Pankritio on Sunday, Olympiacos’ bid to restore their lead atop the standings to fourteen points was left in the air.

While manager Ernesto Valverde stressed it was important for his side to rebound after their UEFA Cup defeat to ‘Les verts’ from midweek, it was instead Ergotelis who started the match strong. The Cretans dictated the tempo for the opening ten minutes, but Dimitrios Orfanos could only muster an off-target effort after four minutes.

At the other end Olympiacos enjoyed their first meaningful excursion into Ergotelis territory when defender Anastasios Pantos pounced on a loose ball. The Greek right-back came close to scoring his first ever goal for the ‘Erythrolefki’, but Ergotelis ‘keeper Zsolt Posza extended Pantos’ goalless stint with the Piraeus giants.

Two former teammates, now reunited at Olympiacos, took center stage for a rare combination between Leonardo and Diogo. The former provided a square pass for his compatriot, but the former Portuguesa striker sent his effort wide of Posza’s frame.

Just as Olympiacos started to impose itself on the match in Heraklion, a rebellious wave from the hosts outsmarted the Super League leaders and Olympiacos went down by one-goal. Vasilis Koutsianikoulis received a hail-marry pass from the midfield, but with great control fooled not only Antonis Nikopolidis, but Michal Zewlakow and Avraam Papadopoulos as well. Creating enough space, and a wide-open goal, Koutsianikoulis tallied just his second goal of the season – the first came in his side’s epic 3-2 defeat of Panathinaikos in Athens.

Ergotelis looked to poison Olympiacos’ bid for success with a lethal dose just a minute later, but Junior was unable to hit the target, instead firing just over the bar.

It took a while for the now trailing visitors to produce a response, but Leonardo’ header into the arms of Posza was far from the appropriate answer.

With his side scrappily attempting to claw back, Valverde was left scratching his head as Dudu and Oscar both missed opportunities to equalize ahead of the interval. Struggling to score last Wednesday as well, a lack of chemistry was holding back Olympiacos’ once-efficient attack.

After the restart, and a tactical change for Olympiacos featuring the extraction of Didier Domi for Matt Derbyshire, Olympiacos looked to salvage some pride after what had already been a bad week for the ‘Eyrthrolefki’.

The Englishmen looked to make his presence felt immediately, and the on-loan Blackburn Rovers striker nearly did just that on fifty-one minutes. Combining with a pass from Dudu, Derbyshire attempted to level the score but narrowly missed out on scoring his first goal in an Oympiacos uniform.

Stubbornly, Derbyshire tried again less than a minute later, but the result resembled his prior effort as it made its way wide of Posza’s goal.

A familiar face, at least for supporters of Ergotelis, then re-emerged to the limelight, but Koutsianikoulis’ return to the offensive was not as rewarding as his first effort as the player nicknamed ‘The Greek Messi’ could only fire wide.

As Ergotelis became more and more keen to hold onto their lead, the game progressed and forced Valverde to introduce a third striker. Konstantinos Mitroglou was introduced in place of Predrag Djordjevic, but the move to reinforce the Olympiacos attack didn’t come with a payout for the port city side.

Instead it was Ergotelis who claimed the best chance of the late stages, yet Patrick Ogounsoto was unable to make the – now inevitable – win any more impressive as Nikopolidis was quick to deny the Nigerian striker.

Losing their second game in consecutive fashion, another unacceptable performance in front of goal saw Olympiacos stumble for just the second time in their domestic duties this season. Meanwhile, Ergotelis was able to reflect on yet another gritty performance, while allowing for some breathing room from the gaping drop zone.

Crunch time will close in for Olympiacos sooner, rather than later, as a trip to France this Thursday prompts a tough streak of matches including a meeting with Panathinaikos, and two meetings, one in the Greek Cup and another in the Super League, with Thessaloniki’s PAOK FC.

Ergotelis will remain off until the weekend, but will come under stiff fire when they visit the Alkazar Stadium to tackle Larissa.

Ergotelis FC 1-0 Olympiacos CFP
Koutsianikoulis 22′

Yellow Cards:
Ergotelis FC – Junior 35′, Gialousis 71′.
Olympiacos CFP - none.

Ergotelis (Nikos Karageorgiou): Posza,Kordounouris, Geladaris, Orfanos, Koutsianikoulis (67′ Plassnegger), Romano (72′ Ogounsoto), Budimir (88′ Mauricio), Gialousis, Junior, Beto, Hieblinger.

Olympiacos CFP (Ernesto Valverde): Nikopolidis, Pantos, A. Papadopoulos, Zewlakow, Domi (46′ Derbyshire), Dudu, Mendrinos (60′ Patsatzoglou), Djordjevic (76′ Mitroglou), Oscar, Leonardo, Diogo.

Referee: Michalis Dakos (Xanthi)

Venue: Pankritio Stadium, Heraklion, Crete, Greece.