He bent the Star and the Ionian breathed again!

Victory… oxygen for Ionikos! Michalis Grigoriou’s side found an early goal through Mandzis (7′), took advantage of Alagbe’s dismissal (43′) with a second yellow card and managed to manage their lead until the end to take a huge 1-0 win.

The Nicaeans were upset, winning most of the duels and showing that they wanted it more, while the Arcades had a poor performance and failed to look threatening, with the dismissal of Alagbe making the task even more difficult for them.

Ionikos now reached 18 points, Asteras Tripoli remained at 25.

In the coach’s mind

With 4-2-3-1 Michalis Grigoriou lined up Ionikos. Houtesiotis in goal and Sakits, Tsigrinski Souza, Valerianos in defense. Kanias, Romao in midfield, with Lovera, Fatiga, Seba in the central attacking triplet and Mantzis at the top of the attack.

Same arrangement from Akis Manzios for Asteras Tripoli. In the goal Papadopoulos and Carmona, Picsou, Kastanio, Alvares in the four defense. Munafo, Alagbe in the axis, with Riera, Sito, Tilika in the midfield trio and Barales in a forward role

The match

In a mood to circulate the ball and try to press to find a quick goal, Asteras entered the game, but saw Ionikos… beat him in his first final. It was the 7th minute with Valeriano taking the free kick from the side, Papadopoulos making the wrong exit and Mantzis with a header at an undefended goal made it 1-0. This goal gave a better pace to the match, with the visitors taking steps but being able to create against the well-prepared Ionian defense that closed all the gaps.

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Cigrinski dominated in the air, Manzio players’ crosses and corners were constantly on the opposition and Arcades did not threaten despite having possession. In the 31st minute, Riera with great control and dribbling entered the area but was cut off by Sebas, while five minutes later Mantzis went to score the goal of the year with a volley from the center (seeing Papadopoulos out of position), but the ball barely went through out Minutes passed, phases were not created and everything showed that the half-time would turn out as it was. Indeed, the score did not change, but the numerical balances changed after Alagbe made a very hard foul on Romao, he saw the second yellow and therefore red card and left Asteras with ten men in the 43rd minute.

Manzios threw Santafe into the match instead of Tilica to fill his axis, with Ionikos giving the ball and space to Asteras to strike on the counterattack. The hosts started to take measures on the field after 54′ and threatened several times. First with Papadopoulos putting a stop to Mantzis, while five minutes later Lovera’s free kick went wide. Manzios gave time to Zouglis and Kostea and wanted to bet on their energy, but the fact that his team was playing with one less player made their task difficult.

In 67′, Ionikos had another phase with Mandzis and Fatigas unable to score, with Asteras having a clear problem in creating phases. Grigoriou made his first move in the 75th minute, dropping Eleftheriadis instead of Loveras, freshening up his team offensively. The minutes passed, Grigoriou’s team managed its lead and kept Astera’s players away from Houtesiotis’ shots. After the end of the 90th minute and the delays, nothing changed, with the Arkades shouting for a penalty at the hands of Tsigrinski in the 94th minute, but Fotias saying you are playing and in the end the Nikaites get a great three points and breathe again!

MVP: Chygrinski fought tremendously and was the leader of the field, beating every opponent. Incredible match from the Ukrainian.

The whistle: He didn’t make the big mistake. Alagbe’s dismissal is correct, the Arcades call for a penalty in the 94th minute, but Chygrinski’s hand was considered unintentional.