Saint-Etienne purges Olympiacos’ UEFA Cup campaign

By: Peter Katsiris | February 27th, 2009

UEFA president Michel Platini watched from the stands as Saint-Etienne handed Olympiacos its walking orders from the final edition of the UEFA Cup on Thursday evening. Dimitri Payet and Ilan scored for the French, before Oscar Gonzalez tallied for the traveling Greeks to pave way for a 2-1 win for Saint-Etienne at the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard.

Already leading the tie after last week’s astonishing 3-1 win at the Giorgos Karaiskakis Stadium, Saint-Etienne capped an impressive round of thirty-two performance by handing the Greek Champions their third consecutive loss in all competitions.

Knowing nothing less than three goals would give them the slightest of chances to reach the round of sixteen, Olympiacos’ objective heading into the replay revolved around offensive responsibilities. The forecast for Saint-Etienne was not as demanding as their Greek counterparts, but Alain Perrin’s men did need to focus on defense.

Failed launch

Olympiacos manager Ernesto Valverde might have chosen the wrong formation considering the expectations of his side, and it showed through the opening few minutes of the first half. The Spaniard likely grew frustrated as he watched his squad gain possession, but produced nothing meaningful throughout the opening ten minutes — apart from Christos Patsatzoglou’s speculative effort on eight minutes.

Instead of the visitors creeping close to the game’s first goal, Saint-Etienne nearly found twine when Paulo Machado forced Antonis Nikopolidis into his first save of the evening. The former Greece international was nearly called into action soon after as a mistake in the Olympiacos defense was nearly made tragic by an inaccurate Payet.

Sebastian Leto, fresh off a two-game absence, looked to mark his return in style by releasing an effort from quite some distance. A well executed effort from the on-loan Liverpool midfielder was not too difficult to handle for Saint-Etienne ‘keeper Jeremie Janot.

Much to the dismay of the traveling supporters, the hosts returned to the offensive when Mouhamadou Dabo provided a pinpoint cross for Ilan. Given all the ingredients for a clinical finish, Nikopolidis acted quickly to deny the Brazilian of his fifth goal of the competition.

On forty-one minutes it was Leto again pushing forward for Olympiacos. He streaked down the left flank with urgency before releasing a crease-cutting effort, but the Argentine’s hard work went to waste as the ball rolled harmlessly past Janot’s goal.

Quickly returning to the offensive, Oscar led the Olympiacos charge as he attempted to punish an out-of-position Janot with a long-range effort. Untroubled by Oscar’s speculative strike, Janot managed to recover and quickly initiated a counter-attack for ‘Les Verts’.

The French fluently transitioned from defense to attack with clever passes down the right flank. Working the ball to the center of the pitch, Payet was left with plenty of space and time at the edge of the Olympiacos box, allowing the Frenchman to fire a spectacular strike past Nikopolidis. Beating the former Greece international to the right corner, Saint-Etienne further complicated Olympiacos’ hopes of progression just before the interval.

Deflated dreams

With even more prerequisites imposed on Olympiacos’ bid to reach the round of sixteen, it was no surprise that Valverde opted to introduce a second striker ahead of the restart – a move likely made too late from an Olympiacos standpoint.

Assumingly bolstered by the addition of Matt Derbyshire in attack; however, the change didn’t offer resemblance on the match outlook. Again Olympiacos started the frame unconvincingly, and with yet another inaccurate effort from Olympiacos, this time from the foot of Oscar, initiating the frame’s proceedings.

Soon after, Olympiacos’ hopes of progress were prematurely purged as Ilan reproduced a similar rendition’s of Payet’s goal to give the hosts a 2-0 lead. Having tallied in Piraeus last week, Ilan all but confirmed his side’s berth in the next round with a sweet strike to the top corner of Nikopolidis’ goal.

There was little response from Olympiacos, mainly due to their frustration as Saint-Etienne’s defense remained resolute. Disappointingly, the French looked to extend the lead on seventy minutes, but Nikopolidis routinely handled Geoffrey Dernis’ shot.

Olympiacos grabbed a consolation goal on seventy-five minutes through Oscar. The former Real Zaragoza man released a blast from outside the well outside the box, and with some help from the upright found its way past Janot.

While they managed to pull one goal back, the circumstances were just too little too late for Olympiacos. Kostas Mendrinos attempted to beat Janot just before stoppage time but his shot was just wide of the Frenchman’s goal.

With the final whistle confirming Olympiacos’ exit from the UEFA Cup, the Super League leaders now face a campaign likely already decided domestically, but attention is required in the Greek Cup. Another European campaign end on bitter terms, as Olympiacos was one of the favourites for a deep run into Europe’s second-tier competition.

With the progression, Saint-Etienne will be hoping their Ligue 1 season will improve as ‘Lez Verts; aim to escape a relegation battle in the French top flight. On European terms, Werder Bremen will be next up for the French side after the Germans overcame Italian giants AC Milan on away goals.

Both sides return to action this weekend, and Olympiacos meets with arch-rivals Panathinaikos at Karaiskaki for the latter half of the Super League’s most anticipated match. Saint-Etienne will look to put their overflowing confidence into good use when they visit principality outfit AS Monaco on Sunday.

AS Saint-Etienne 2-1 Olympiacos CFP
Payet 45′, Ilan 58′ – Oscar 75′

Yellow Cards:
AS Saint-Etienne – Tavlaridis 35′,
Olympiacos CFP – Antzas 25′, Diogo 35′, Pantos 39′, Patsatzoglou 45′ + 2′, Leto 66′, Mendrinos 84′.

AS Saint-Etienne (Alain Perrin): Janot, Varrault, Tavlaridis, Bayal, Dabo, Mirallas, Matuidi, Dernis, Payet (62′ Gigliotti), Machado, Ilan.

Olympiacos CFP (Ernesto Valverde): Nikopolidis, Pantos, Antzas, Zewlakow, Galitsios, Dudu (76′ Mendrinos), Patsatzoglou, Leto, Oscar, Torosidis (46′ Derbyshire), Diogo (65′ Mitroglou).

Referee: Paul Allaerts (Belgium)

Venue: Stade Geoffroy-Guichard, Saint-Etienne, France.