Greek Super League One: Olympiacos survive Aris challenge

The reds were able to come from behind and escape with a 1-2 win from Kleanthis Vikelidis, forcing the home side to their second loss in a row in front of their fans. Meanwhile, AEK dropped points in Larissa

Olympiacos managed to turn the game on its head and find three precious points against Aris. Photo: APE/MPE

9 October 2019 7:43am

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In round six of the Greek Super League One there weren’t many surprises, as Aris tried but weren’t able to avoid a second consecutive home loss, this time at the hands of Olympiacos.
The team from Piraeus needed to bounce back after their midweek disappointing loss in Belgrade at the hands of Crvena Zvezda and manager Pedro Martins reinstalled his key players (Valbuena, Guillherme, Elabdellaoui, Podence) back into the starting eleven.

This had an immediate effect on the way the team appeared on the pitch, looking a lot more threatening and creative within the first 35 minutes than they did in the whole 90 a few short days ago.

Yet it was Aris who found the way to the goal first, after a free kick by Matilla just after six minutes of play sent the ball into the area and onto the head of Nicolas Diguiny, who left no chance to goalkeeper Jose Sa.

The home side fans celebrated their early lead, but it wasn’t meant to last, as the visitors were the better team on the pitch and it didn’t take long for them to prove it.

On the 33rd minute, a wonderful solo effort by Kostas Tsimikas down the left flank gave the Greek youngster a chance to cross the ball into the area.

Giorgos Masouras was the first to get his head onto the ball and equalise for his team, giving the signal for the counterattack.

And just five minutes later, the turnaround had been completed after the specialist on dead ball situations Mathieu Valbuena took the free kick from the left side and found Youssef El Arabi inside the area, with the Moroccan scoring his fourth goal in all competitions with the club.

In the second half, the visitors backtracked to give Aris more space and try and strike on the counter.

Yet even though the home side wasted a few opportunities, nothing else changed, with Olympiacos finding a much-needed win and Aris sinking further into their internal struggles.

However, after the game, Olympiacos manager Pedro Martins admitted that his team was not in a good period and that the international break came at a good time for him and his players.

In other games, AEK was held to a 0-0 result at the AEL FC Arena, with the visitors having strong complaints in regards to the poor condition of the pitch.

Nikos Kostenoglou’s men did not go in strongly on the challenges as they were afraid of being injured and weren’t able to play to their full potential, according to the statements after the game.

Panathinaikos weren’t able to build on their winning streak as they were forced to a home loss at the hands of the surprise of the season so far, Xanthi, who still remain at second place on the ladder.

Yet the home side have several complaints towards the referee, claiming that the VAR assistant was wrongly used in the case of Fose’s goal, while their own goal that was disallowed in the first half, should have counted.

Meanwhile, PAOK had a comfortable afternoon against Asteras in Tripoli, walking away with a 1-2 win.

GREEK SUPER LEAGUE ROUND SIX RESULTS
Panathinaikos-Xanthi 0-1 (90’+3′ Faucher)
AEL-AEK 0-0
Volos-Atromitos 2-3 (7′, 36′ Torres – 39′ Androutsos, 45′ pen. Manousos, 62′ Giakoumakis)
OFI-Panionios 4-1 (32′, 81′ Semedo, 55′ Neira, 71′ Tsilianidis – 9′ Arabuli)
Asteras Tripolis-PAOK 1-2 (58′ Suarez – 33′ Swiderski, 47′ og. Martinez)
Aris-Olympiacos 1-2 (9′ Diguiny – 33′ Masouras, 38′ El Arabi)
Lamia-Panetolikos 0-0