Guardian angel Paschalakis, savior El Arabi and Olympiakos… is pressing!

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He bent the battleship again with a tumble OFI The Olympic (2-1).

The “red and white” lost the… undefeated against the Cretans in “G. Karaiskakis”, with Mandas taking down rolls, but they returned to victories, with El Arabi to provide the solution in the 76th minute, seconds after entering the match.

The guests they had opened the scoring at 19′ with Dicko to take advantage of Retsu’s slippage in the area. THE Bakabou equalized in the 39th minute and in the second part it followed… siege from Mitchell’s team, which due to nervousness and the excellent performance of the opponent’s goalkeeper did not manage to reach a second goal earlier.

Beam in 67′ Huang, almost fatal o Bielwho wasted great opportunities, while in addition to the Moroccan, he drew attention to himself and the Paschalakis in the end, making excellent interventions on the chances of Groning (83′) and Bakics (90′).

In the mind of the coaches

With 4-2-3-1 Mitchell lined up Olympiakos. Paschalakis was under the posts, Rodinei and Reabtsiuk the full-backs, while Papastathopoulos and Retsos were the stopper duo. Huang and Embila in the center, while Garry and Biel were on the “wings”, with Hames in the role of… play maker, behind the only promoted Bakabu.

With 3-5-2 Valdas Dabrauskas lined up the Cretans, with Mandas under the posts and Vouros, Pasalidis, Diamantis in defense. Larsson started on the right wing and Thorarison on the left. Duce and Perea the two midfielders, with Toral in front of them in a more creative role. Tzu and Diko the two attackers of the guests.

The match

THE rhythm of the match was good from the start. Olympiacos had the initiative of the movements and OFI was quite solid, but not pressing high. The Piraeus, in contrast to what they had done in the immediately previous match, started well in the match and pressed in the first ten minutes. They played enough from the “wings”, perhaps due to the formation (3-5-2) of the visitors, he stepped into the area, but he lacked the right decisions and good finishes. With clearer cases, Gary’s tragic ending from advantageous position in the 7th minute after his cross Bielwhile Bakabu took the baton immediately after, who made a bad placement in a four-a-four, before being indicated in an offside position.

THE OFIafter enduring and taking this time out, he began to timidly come forward and in his first visit to the rival territory with claims found the goal in the 19′. After a nice counter-attack, Thorarison made a good turn from the left, Retsos slid into the heart of the area and untroubled Dicko he pinched the ball and sent it into the net.

THE first final of Olympiakos at home happened in the 29th minute with Hames testing his foot just outside the area and Mandas having difficulty clearing. Immediately after, Mr Huang he maneuvered into the area and took a powerful shot, with the ball going just wide. In the 38th minute, OFI sent the ball into Paschalakis’ net for the second time, but Tzu was clearly offside and was immediately recognized by the assistant and VAR.

Olympiacos-OFI 2-1

Olympiacos increased its pressure with forward Hames and found the 1-1 at 40′ with Bakabu heading home James’ free-kick from the right, cashing in on the Colombian’s quality at this stage. The Piraeus pressed in the final stretch of the first half, looking for a second goal before the break, he pressed several times in the area, but he found his best moment with a long shot, with Biel forcing the Manda in a difficult operation in his left corner.

THE Olympic he entered well in the second part as well, better than the first, as he had classic opportunities. With Biel as the protagonist, touching on two occasions the goal in a short time. In the 50th minute, he was face to face with Mandas and he made a completely lifeless finish with his right over the Greek goalkeeper and three minutes later, Bakabou found the Spaniard who from the heart of the area did not make an ideal place with his left and Mandas fired again.

THE OFI he stayed true to his plan, starting to play with time as well, wanting to “freeze” the pace. Olympiacos pressed a lot after the first twenty minutes, found the phases, but not the composure to make it 2-1 at that point. Less than ten minutes away he flirted with the goal three timeswith Bakabu sending the ball just wide of Manda’s post in the 66th minute with a header, while in the next minute Huang caught a shot from outside the area with the ball stopping at horizontal beam. The biggest was scored in the 73′ with Rodiney working with Biel, but again he failed to beat Manda.

Olympiacos-OFI 2-1

The 2-1 was finally made in the 76th minute with El Arabi to find the net from close range, seconds after entering the match. OFI almost “stolen” a point at the end, after having two great opportunities in the final stretch, with Paschalakis saying “no” to Groning (83′) after a mistake by Embila, but also to Bakics (90′).

The film of the match via sport-fm.gr

MVP: Who to start… Three players can be discussed. By far the best score goes to Mandas, who rolled in the match. However, Paschalakis makes two saves at the end (83′, 90′) and gives the victory to Olympiakos. The one who broke the Gordian bond was El Arabi who did in a few seconds what his teammates couldn’t do in a whole half.

Whistle: No serious fault can be credited, although there were strong complaints on both sides. At 1-1, Bakabu was held in order not to go offside, Retsos is exposed when the 31-year-old forward makes a header, but apparently it is judged that he has no participation in the phase. Papadopoulos is being checked for the disciplinary control, he could manage the match differently so that the situation does not get out of hand at some points.

Olympiacos (Mitchell): Paschalakis – Rodinei, Papastathopoulos (85′ Cisse), Retsos, Reabciuk (74′ Ramon) – Embila, Huang – Gary (65′ Masouras), Hames (85′ Samasekou), Biel – Bakabou (75′ El Arabi)

Left on the bench were: Tzolakis, Fortounis, Vrousai, Valbuena

OFI (Valdas Dabrauskas): Mandas – Vouros, Pasalidis, Diamantis – Larson, Perea, Duce (82′ Mosquera), Torarison (82′ Torarinson), Toral (71′ Bakits) – Tzu (55′ Groning), Diko (71′ Balogiannis)

Left on the bench were: Sotiriou, Marinakis, Giannoulis, Bifumas

Referee: Papadopoulos

Assistants: Meidanas, Karagizopoulos

Fourth: Polychronis

VAR: Gortsilas, Nikolaidis

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