Mars roared and erupted in Volos!

In fifth place in the Super League with shows Manu Garcia Mars!

The Thessalonians may have had difficulty breaking down the Volos defense in the first half of the match against Volos in “Vikelidis” for the 19th matchday, but with absolute protagonist Manu Garciawho scored three times in the second half (47′, 60′, 74′), managed to get the win with 3-0 and surpass Thessalonians in the standings, consolidating his position in the top six (+8 from 7th Atromitos). Embakata was injured and replaced in the 22nd minute of the match, who is expected to be absent from the second quarter-final of the Cup against Olympiakos.

Thus, Aris returned to positive results after the two consecutive defeats by Olympiakos in “Georgios Karaiskakis”, while he goes with an elevated psychology to the rematch with Piraeus, for the quarter-finals of the Cup. On the other hand, Volos experienced its sixth defeat in this year’s championship, while in the next matchday it will host Panaitolikos.

In the mind of the coaches

With 4-2-3-1 and four changes compared to the midweek Cup game against Olympiakos, Aris was lined up by Alan Pardew, who did not have Dabo, Nkulu, Palma, Camacho and Kamara available. In a 4-2-3-1 system, he kept Cuesta under the posts, placing Embakata, Fabiano, Brambetz and Piersman in front of him. Ducouret, Manu Garcia and Darida were the trio in midfield, with Mancini at right wing, Mateo Garcia at left and Gray as the sole centre-forward.

On the other hand, Mr Kostas Bratsos kept the same lineup (in 4-2-3-1) that he had chosen in the game against Ionikos, for the previous matchday. Kleiman was the goalkeeper, with Alcho right back, Luna left and Escoval, Pirinen duo stopper. Barrientos and Metaxas started on the axis, Deletic on the right wing, Chirinos on the left and Mescida had a role of ten, behind Ozegovic.

The match

With no rhythm, with many strong duels and even more interruptions, the match began, with Bullet to press high in the first minutes, making it difficult for the home defenders. In the 6th minute, Piersman almost made a big mistake under pressure from Deletic, but eventually managed to turn the ball to Questa, while in the 7th minute, Embakata raced and crossed from the right, with Clayman to kick for a corner.

Then the Mars took possession of the ball, trying to create the conditions for a goal, with Manu Garcia to shoot high out from distance in the 12′. The biggest chance of the first half came in the 15th minute and it was for the home side, with Mancini making a beautiful cross and Gray curling at the height of the penalty spot, but Piersman shot high wide from a very good position.

After the first twenty minutes, Volos retreated to the pitch and gave measures to Aris, with Mancini to get the ball in a good position in 24′, placing over Pirinen’s body. In the 30th minute, the visitors threatened with Deletic making a very good individual effort from the right, reaching the small area of ​​Aris, with Piersman to cut him off before he can shoot or pass. In the 42nd minute, Mancini with a beautiful cross brought out Gray one-on-one with Kleiman, but the Jamaican striker missed and was given an offside along the way, with the first half ending goalless and with great excitement.

However, the 0-0 did not stay for long in the second half, since in the 47th minute, after a nice counterattack, Mateo Garcia found the ball with a pass Manu Garcia and the Spaniard broke into the box and slotted home from a wide position to beat Kleiman to make it 1-0. Released from the stress of 0-0, o Mars continued to threaten the Volos defence, with Manu Garthia making a fine turn in the 59th minute and Gray shooting high wide from the penalty area. A minute later (60′), Aris doubled his goals, with Mateo Garcia passing for Manu Garthia and the Spaniard to converge from the left and finish Kleiman with a powerful curling shot, making it 2-0 and scoring for the third time this season!

However, Manu Garcia had not yet said his last word, since in the 74th minute he completed the hat trick of, scoring with a wonderful long shot and “locking” the victory for his team. The last minutes of the match were of a procedural nature, with the 3-0 remaining until the end and Aris getting a victory which raised him to 5th place in the standings.

MVP: THE Manu Garcia he was the absolute protagonist of Aris, scoring a hat-trick and essentially giving his team the victory! He solved the difficulties faced by Thessaloniki, reaching four goals this season!

The whistle: Without particular problems the refereeing of Katikos, who especially in the first half had to stop the game several times, after there were plenty of strong duels on the pitch. In general, he handled the match well.

Team compositions:



Ares (Alan Pardew): Cuesta – Embakata (22′ Odubajo), Fabiano, Brumbetz, Piersman – Ducouret, Manu Garcia, Darinda (67′ Etembo) – Mateo Garcia (81′ Rodriguez), Mancini (81′ Mazikou), Gray (82′ Iturbe)

On the counter: Siabanis, Sgouros, Tanoulis, Panagidis.

Volos (Kostas Bratsos): Kleiman – Alho, Escoval, Pirinen, Luna (67′ Si) – Barrientos, Metaxas (56′ Gagi) – Deletic, Meskida (67′ Pires), Tsirinos – Ozegovic (84′ Kocias)

On the counter: Kotnik, Tachatos Aslanidis, Sielis, Aruna, Kartalis.

Referee: Inhabitant

Assistants: Aptosoglou, Nidriotis

4th: Tsimenteridis

VAR: Gamaris, Fotopoulos

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