Olympiacos sinks Batska and continues in Europe!

“Cleaned” Batska and Olympiacos continues in Europe. The “red and white” swallowed (5-2) the Serbians in the frozen “G. Karaiskakis” in the debut of Carvalhal on their bench, they finished in 3rd place in the 1st group of the Europa League and secured a ticket for the European Conference League.

THE El Kaabi opened the scoring in the 21st minute with a header, while then he took action Pontense, who with two nice goals (40′, 42′) gave Piraeus a two-goal lead. With the own goal by Ilic from his head Retsu in the 46th minute it became 4-0, while the visitors reduced with Dzakovac (48th) and Sirkovic (61th). THE El Arabiwho came on as a substitute, set up the final score with a goal in the 68th minute.

With ten players the guests fought for about half an hour due to expulsion of Kuvelic at 60′.

He made his debut for Piraeus Richardswho stepped onto the pitch in the 86th minute.

In the coach’s mind

With 4-4-2 Carvalial lined up Olympiakos. At the goal were Paschalakis, Retsos and Doi the two stoppers, with Rodinei moving to the right and Ortega to the left. Ese and Kamara were in midfield, with Pontense and Fortuni on the wings, with Masoura flanking El Kaabi at the top of the attack.

With 3-5-2 and Bachka. Ilic was in goal, while the trio in defense was Krstic, Stogic and Chalusic. On either side were Svetkovic and Petrovic, with Kuvelic, Radin and Djakovac in the centre. Cirkovic and Milovanovic were in attack.

The match

From the beginning it appeared that it would be a game of patience in Faliro. Olympiacos had it initiative of movements, while Bacska, despite only wanting the victory, played quite back and tight, having multi-faceted defense and seeking to strike through counter attacks.

THE first good time of Piraeus came, however, through a counterattack, with Pontense to take the ball from the left, but the cross he made did not bring anything good, as he did not find a teammate. The next attempt of Piraeus was also incomplete, with Fortounis making the turn from the right, with Masoura not executing after the bad chase of the visitors, committing a foul while he was almost at the penalty area.

In the next phase, however, the Piraeus got what they wanted. Rodney crossed from the right, o El Kaabi he beat Stogic in the air and taking advantage of the fact that Ilic didn’t come out he sent the ball into the net with a header.

From there on, we saw a different match, with Olympiakos loosening up, Batska playing more openly and the “red and whites” taking whatever weight they had on their backs. Remarkably, Batska’s first good moment came in the 29th minute, with Dzakovac finding the space and time to execute, with a shot from outside the area sending the ball over Paschalakis’ goal.

In the 32nd minute, Olympiacos could have found a 2nd goal, with Fortounis after a steal, distributing vertically for Podense, but the Portuguese made a bad control, closed and lost the ball, while he was in an excellent position.

In the 35th minute, Piraeus sent the ball into the net for the second time, but did not make it 2-0, as El Kaabi, who beat Ilic again, was exposed when Fortounis committed the foul.

Olympiacos finally made it 2-0 in the 40th minute, with Pontense to become the owner of the ball after the turn of Fortounis from the right, to make successive feints and a nice shot with the left sending the ball to the right window of Ilic.

Two minutes later, the Portuguese stepped into the area from the left and sent the ball into the net again with a dribble shot.

In the 45th Fortune he took the ball a little in front of the center, found a lot of space and from the edge of the area executed with his left, sending the ball a little past the right post of the opposing goalkeeper. Her second good moment Bachka it came in stoppage time, when after a foul pass, Kuvelic shot hard, the ball hit the wall and went just wide.

With the “good morning” in the second half, Olympiacos won a corner from which it became 4-0. THE Fortune executed nicely from the right, o Retsos dominated the air and got a header, sending the ball onto the crossbar, but then found Ilic, changed course and ended up in the net.

In the next phase Ortega relaxed too much and lost the ball, Dzakovac took the ball, emptied Doi and executed Paschalakis.

In the 52nd minute, Masouras was in a position to shoot, but he was late and only took the corner. Olympiacos had the chance to make it 5-1 in the 56th minute, with El Kaabi stepping into the area, but despite having time, he could not find a teammate.

In the 60th minute the visitors were down to ten due to a second yellow card for Kuvelic, but instead of that working in favor of Olympiakos, it helped Backa in the first half, as the Serbians had just put fresh legs into the match with a triple substitution. THE Sirkovic he took the ball close from the center, beat Ese with a sprint and with a nice finish sent the ball into the net of Paschalakis.

In the 67th minute, Olympiacos chased away any clouds, with El Arabi, after a nice collaboration, Rodiney, Ese and Fortouni, easily scoring for 5-2. Olympiacos had another good chance four minutes in, with Podese finding Biel, who cut in from the right, shot with his right but couldn’t beat Ilic.

Carvalhal’s team found three more opportunities for a sixth goal until the finale. Pontense, after good balls from El Arabi, maneuvered well, but missed from a good position in the 76th minute, while Rodiney missed in the 82nd minute with an outside foul from a right-wing position. In the 85th minute, El Arabi had a chance for a 2nd goal, but was unable to send the ball into the net from close range.

The film of the match via sport-fm.gr

MVP: Several Olympiakos players had a good night, but Pontense stood out. Because of the two goals and his overall image. Very good performance after a while for the Portuguese ace. Fortunis, who is in most of Piraeus’ phases, had a good evening too.

Whistle: It is not worth standing in the refereeing in such a match. Some serious mistake was not made anyway. It could just be that the Dane was a little stricter in the disciplinary control, as the visitors played very hard.

Olympiacos (Carlos Carvalhal): Paschalakis – Rodinei, Retsos, Doi, Ortega – Ese (73′ Carvalho), Kamara (87′ Richards) – Pontense, Fortounis (73′ Alexandropoulos), Masouras (64′ Biel) – El Kaabi (64′ El Arabi)

Left on the bench were: Tzolakis, Papadoudis, Ibora, El Arabi, Alexandropoulos, Kini, Carvalho, Biel, Jovetich, Solbakken.

Backa Tombola (Zarko Lazetic): Ilic – Krstic, Stogic, Chalusic (87′ Vlakukin) – Svetkovic, Radin (55′ Vulic), Kuvelic, Djakovac, Petrovic (55′ Sos) – Sirkovic (72′ Stanic), Milovanovic (55′ Rakoniac)

Left on the bench were: Simic, Jorgic, Mircevski, Antonic, Padovic, Vulic

Referee: Marten Krogh (Denmark)

Assistants: Volenberg Rasmussen, Steffen Bramsen (Denmark)

4th: Peter Kiarsgaard

VAR: Maurizio Mariani, Daniele Doveri (Italy)