Olympiacos couldn’t seal a victory against Aris at Georgios Karaiskakis stadium in the 2nd Play Off of the Super League championship, despite having a two-goal lead.
In-Beom Hwang made a crucial contribution to the “red and white” with a goal in the 36th minute, followed by Sokratis Papastathopoulos at the 52nd minute, cementing their position at the top of the leaderboard. However, they missed an opportunity to gain an extra point to secure their lead. The opposition team, led by Apostolos Terzis, made an impressive comeback with goals from Juan Iturbe at the 70th minute and Rafael Camacho at the 81st minute, leading to an exciting and balanced match.
The match started with a high pace and intensity, with Serzi Kanos showcasing impressive energy in the 4th minute. Despite overcoming the defensive resistance of both Sheikh Doucouret and Jakub Brambetz, his shot from a lateral position missed the target. In the next minute, Lazaros Christodoulopoulos made a dangerous cross-shot, but it went unconverted. Paytim Kasami and Pep Biel failed to score in the 21st minute, and in the 29th minute, Kanos’ shot was saved by Ciabani.
In the 36th minute, Olympiacos finally found the back of the net after 19 attempts, thanks to Huang’s goal. It was a much-needed boost for the team. However, the joy was short-lived as Canos suffered a forced substitution due to a knee injury caused by a collision with Ducouret.
Aris immediately tried to respond, but Andre Gray’s header in the 40′ missed the target. The picture of the second half is similar. Brambets, after Kasami’s cross, inadvertently sent the ball to the crossbar of Siabani’s goal and, in a corner, in the development of the phase.
Kostas Fortounis executed a corner kick that led to Papastathopoulos scoring an unguarded header, making it 2-0 in the 52nd minute. However, the goal came at a price, as Piraeus was forced to make a substitution due to Ousseinou Ba’s injury. Despite this setback, the “yellows” continued to fight. Gray had a chance to score in the 66th minute but missed from a favorable position, despite a combination from Salem Embakata and Juan Iturbe.
Iturbe’s persistence paid off in the 70th minute when he stole the ball from Panagiotis Retsos. Although initially blocked by Alexandros Paschalakis, Iturbe managed to score with his right foot on his second attempt, reducing the score to 2-1 and adding a new level of excitement to the game.
In the 81st minute, the tides turned as Marvin Piersman expertly lobbed the ball past Biel’s resistance and into the small area. Camacho was in the perfect position to make easy work of it, leveling the score to 2-2. Despite the shock, the hosts attempted to recover but could not threaten, except for a shot by Giorgos Masouras in the third minute of stoppage time, which was impressively saved by Siabanis.
The game ended with a 2-2 score, much to the disapproval of Olympiakos fans, who saw their team remain three points away from the first-place spot. Meanwhile, Aris was left satisfied with their performance, as they maintained their position in fifth place and kept their +1 advantage over Volos.
Referee: Fabio Verissimo (Portugal)
Yellows: Gray, Camacho.
The compositions:
OLYMPIAKOS (Mitchell Gonzalez): Paschalakis, Rodinei, Papastathopoulos, Ba (55′ Retsos), Reabciuk, Huang (74′ Samasekou), Kasami, Kanos (42′ Masouras), Fortounis (73′ Rodriguez), Biel, Bakabou (74′ Embilla).
ARIS (Apostolos Terzis): Siabanis, Embakata, Fabiano, Brambetz, Piersman, Doukoure (75′ Dabo), Darida (57′ Etembo), Palma (75′ Camazzo), Mateo Garcia (57′ Iturbe), Christodoulopoulos, Gray (90 ‘+1’ Arch)
(AMNA)
