In front he was embroidering, behind them… Olympiacos was breaking down!

Zelson and Welde they make tastes, but the Nottingham rang the bell in his defense Olympiakou!

The ‘red and whites’ scored well in the build-up, had Gelson (two goals) and Velde (one goal) on a big night, but were let down by defensive lapses and punished by Nottingham Forest, who prevailed 4-3 in a friendly game-festival at “G. Karaiskakis”. A problem in the static phases for the Piraeus, something that must certainly improve through work in training.

Unofficial debut for Stamenic with good samples, good elements offensively but also issues in the inhibitory function from his team Mendiliber which brought out reaction and character in the end.

Impressive moments and… emotion before the start of the match with the Euro-cups on the grass by Medilibar and Sylaidopoulos, while the people asked for Pontense from Vangelis Marinakis through slogans!

In the coach’s mind

With 4-2-3-1 Olympiakos was lined up by Medilibar. Tzolakis in goal and Kostinia, Retsos, Pirola and Apostolopoulos in defense. Stamenic and Ese in the axis, in front of them Chikinio and in the “wings” Masouras, Zelson. Kostoulas is at the top of the attack.

With 4-3-3, Espirito Santo brought down Nottingham. Sels in goal and Williams, Mourinho, Bolli, Eina in the defensive four. Yates, Sangare, Dominguez the triple in midfield, with Gibbs-White, Anderson alongside Wood in the attacking trio.

The match

Tension, high pressing and won duels made up the image of Olympiakos in the first quarter, having managed to limit Nottingham aggressively. In fact, in the 11th minute came the home team’s first phase, with Ese making the change of play, Costinia feinting and turning, but Zelson’s header went wide. And four minutes later, Nottingham in their first final found a goal, when the Olympiakos defense became inactive and Yates with a header from close range executed Tzolakis for 1-0.

The reaction of Piraeus was immediate, since in the 24th minute they brought the score to balance. Madrid’s players patiently circulated the ball, Costinha played straight for Zelson, who with a sombrero eluded Mourinho and produced a terrific aerial finish to make it 1-1. The game had an excellent pace, the ball went up and down and Masouras in the 34th minute almost scored the upset, but his lob went just wide. The crowd had set up their own celebration from the stands, asking for Pontense from Marinakis and booing the players at the same time.

Except that Nottingham from another static phase, this time a free kick, found a second goal with Tzolakis making a bad chase and Wood from close range making it 2-1 at halftime in the 43rd minute. Olympiacos had paid for an inaction and a personal mistake, conceding two goals, while in front they had good traffic but did not have the clear mind to make more finals. He did, however, have Stamenic well positioned with Ese in the center, with the New Zealander showing tremendous composure when he has the ball at his feet.

Masouras almost made it 2-2 to Zelson in the 52nd minute but Sels took the bite out of the Portuguese’s mouth, with Nottingham following Santo’s changes getting a ‘boost’ and finding the net twice more. First, from another static phase and… freezing of the red and white defense that gave Yates the right to score again in the 61st minute, while seven minutes later Elanga found an “acre” in front of him and executed Tzolakis for 4-1, with his finish to find first and in the projection of Pirola.

Medilibar also made its moves from the bench, with the entry of Velde and Yaremchuk to aggressively beautify Olympiakos. The first with his quickness and quality, the second acting wonderfully as a support to his teammates but also executing whenever he was given opportunities, such as in the 74th minute when his header went just wide.

Finally, four minutes later and after excellent movement of the ball through the legs of Rodiney, Yaremchuk and Ciquinho, he found Velde to place on the post, but Zelson was there to take the rebound for his second personal goal, but also that of his team! A goal that gave extra psychology and fury to the Piraeus, who controlled the pace and reduced it even more. It was the 89th minute, with Ortega opening up inside the area for Velde, who got in front of Elanga, passed him and executed perfectly for 4-3.

And in… caps, Olympiacos almost got the friendly draw, but after Rodinei’s well-weighted cross, Yaremchuk failed to score with a header from a vantage point!