Red and white rhapsody taken from the biggest dreams of his fans! The general’s commandos also looked shocking Jose Luis Mendilibar to deposit their souls on the playing field of “Vila Park”, o HUGE Olympiacos prevailed with the emphatic 4-2 of Aston Villa!
EPOS from Piraeuswhich is unprecedented, made history in England and took their first win in a European competition semi-final, seeing the Conference League final at the ‘OPAP Arena’ ever closer!
Magical coaching by the Basque technician who matched Unai Emerytook his identity and the 2500 thousand of his fans who were in Birmingham experienced the greatest European moment of the club until the next one!
Unthinkable performance by El Kaabi with a hat-trickcontinuing the tradition of… red and white Moroccans in England, while Ese put the icing on the cake. Aston Villa had come back and temporarily equalized at 2-2 with Watkins and Diaby, but the “red and whites” were determined to write another golden page in their rich history!
In one week the rematch at “Georgios Karaiskakis”, where the second half of the semi-finals will be played, but of course the Piraeus have a big lead to go to the final of New Philadelphia!
In the coach’s mind
Unai Emery brought down Aston Villa with 4-4-1-1. Olsen in goal and Cass, Langley, Konsa, Digne in the defensive four. Douglas Lewis, McGinn in midfield, Rodgers, Diaby and Bailey in a free role behind the promoted Watkins.
With the classic 4-2-3-1, Jose Luis Mendiliber lined up Olympiakos. At the goal, Tzolakis and Rodinei, Retsos, Karmo, Ortega in the defensive line. Ibora, Ese with the two “sixes”, Ciquinio at “10” and Fortunis, Pontense at the extremes. El Kaabi was at the top of the attack.
The match
In a mood to press high and steal balls, creating phases, he entered Olympicby Ibora only in the 3rd minute to see him Olsen striking his header, in a phase where the supervisor’s flag was wrongly raised for offside. Aston Villa reacted, touched the goal in 6′ but the Tzolakis made a big intervention in Rogers’ shot, while in the… caps the English scored with him Bailey but his goal did not count as it had been preceded by an offensive foul on Ibora.
THE Olympic he brought tension to the grass, the pressing was coordinated and he scored twice in a short period of time! At 16′, therefore, o El Kaabi found himself in a tete-a-tete position after his great heel Chiquinio, scored with a perfect spot but saw the flag raised for offside. A minute later and after examining it VAR, the goal counted for the “red and white” 1-0. Piraeus’ lead caused confusion for the English, who seemed to be losing their minds and saw the Moroccan strike again in the 29th minute. After stealing it Retsu on the axis, o Fortune played vertically, o Chiquinio press for him Pontense and he with an amazing pinch ball got him out El Kaabi opposite to Olsenwith the experienced striker not missing for 2-0 in complete… ecstasy on the red and white bench and stands.
The game went perfectly for the “red and whites”, with Mendiliber to see him shortly after half an hour Ortega to have an injury problem but to continue. In the 39th minute, Olympic had a new final, when in a wonderful match o Fortune he was the final receiver but his completion went just wide. Five minutes later the Bailey fell on Ortega asking for a penalty, but o Gida pushed the match to continue and finally the… mark he gave to the Argentinian full-back brought the score down, since he couldn’t follow Watkins with a terrible finish in the opposite corner executed him Tzolakis (1-2).
The crowd entered the equation in the second half as Aston Villa were back in the game and in contention for a positive result. THE Ortega he left and Richards took his place, with the home side going into the second 45 minutes with momentum and they equalized in the 52nd minute with another cool-headed goal. After a great game changer, o Bailey saw his underlap Diabywho cleverly executed him Tzolakis in the closed corner for 2-2, with the Greek referee not expecting this finish but also bearing little responsibility. This goal, however, did not seem to deter the Piraeus, who won a penalty in the next down, when the promoted Retsos he made the header and Luis as a… goalkeeper pushed the ball away. THE El Kaabi took over the execution, sent Olsen into the opposite corner for 3-2 and the Moroccan’s hat-trick!
The game had become a rodeo, o Olympic he was playing at the pace of the English and managed to respond to the maximum. He showed that he can threaten and find new moments with the constant thefts on the axis, as he did. In a “cold” way, responding to the two goals of the home team and freezing “Villa Park” for good. It was the 67th minute when o Pontense went one on one with him Mrs and broke into Hehwho tried his feet and saw the ball first find the Konsathen changing course and ending up in his nets Olsen for the 4-2 amid… boos from his 2,500+ fans who couldn’t believe what they were seeing.
Her audience Villa he looked in awe at what he saw the “red and whites” doing on the grass of “Villa Park”, with Emery throwing one aggressive player after another onto the pitch. THE Olympic he didn’t chew, he found a new big phase to score but o Olsen he took out his terrible rocket Chiquinio and the home team in the 81st minute won a penalty in his sloppy marking Karmo to Duran. The… Football God was with Piraeus though, with Luis seeing his effort hit the left-hand post and end up wide with the 4-2 to remain!
The minutes ticked by, the English seemed locked in and never managed until the finale to transform into a goal that would have put them firmly in the qualification zone the high possession of the ball they had, with his players Olympiakou to become one with the world by singing about the… European!
MVP: Shocking Ayoub El Kaabi, who with the hat-trick he made led Olympiacos from hand to hand to an unimaginable victory inside “Villa Park” and has given him a huge lead in qualifying for the Conference League final!
The whistle: Marco Guida gave a refereeing recital. He rightly does not give the home team a penalty in the finale of the first half for Bailey’s fall, just as he rightly shows the white arrow twice in the second half, once for the “red and whites” and once for the English.
ASTON VILLA: Olsen, Cash, Langley, Konsa, Digne, Rodgers (74′ Duran), McGinn, Luiz, Diaby (85′ Zaniolo), Watkins and Bailey (85′ Iroengbunam).
OLYMPIC: Tzolakis, Ortega (46′ lt. Richards), Karmo, Retsos, Rodinei, Ese, Ibora, Tsiquinio, Fortunis, Podense (70′ Horta) and El Kaabi.
Source: Sport Fm
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