What a night for Olympiacos! The Red and Whites made history, beating Aston Villa 2-0, eliminating one of the Premier League’s best teams, and with an aggregate score of 6-2, booked their ticket to the Conference League Final at the OPAP Arena. The Kaabi magician who scored both goals for Piraeus.
Olympiacos did it! Olympiacos made history and sent millions of its fans into a state of euphoria. The red and white team has the whole of Europe talking, they lived a magical night, winning 2-0 over Aston Villa and with an aggregate score of 6-2 they secured a ticket to the Conference League final at the OPAP Stadium, where Fiorentina awaits.
Ayoub Al Kaabi once again does things and miracles. It was he who opened the scoring in the tenth minute of the match with a shot from Kenny, which set fire to Georgios Karaiskakis’ goal. The Reds and Whites fought huge battles, sacrificing their lives, and keeping the English at zero, with Tzoulakis intervening whenever necessary.
The Moroccan striker achieved victory and qualified for the Reds in the 81st minute thanks to Tzoulakis’ pass, while Karaiskakis was reeling after the video assistant referee ruled a goal after the goal was initially disallowed by the assistant. Piraeus knocked out one of the top teams in the Premier League in two matches.
Now, the red and white team is counting down to the next and biggest match in their history. The Conference League Grand Final is scheduled to take place on Wednesday, May 29 at 10:00pm in New Philadelphia against Fiorentina.
the match
The first good moment of the match was for Olympiacos. Chiquinho shot the ball from the left of the penalty area, but it went outside the goal. Aston Villa quickly had possession of the ball, and opened it on the wings, sometimes to Cash, sometimes to Dean, who was advancing, but the red and white covered the spaces perfectly,
In the tenth minute, Karaiskakis caught fire and “bite” Piraeus in a counterattack and opened the score. Pontense entered the area from the left. He saw Kenny move from the outside, fed him, then turned to El Kaabi at the far post who sent in with his right foot to make it 1-0, making it 5-2 on aggregate.
Aston Villa continued to have possession, but created chances through the dropper. In the 25th minute, Douglas Luiz shot a long ball, but Konstantis Tzoulakis blocked it forcefully. The two elephants entered the red and white area, but without greatly threatening the red and white fire.
In the 37th minute, Olympiacos scored again from a counterattack. Podence passed from the left flank to Fortunis outside the area. He shot and Martins fell into his left corner and saved. At the end of the first half, Villa increased the pressure, and Cass came close to scoring in the 40th minute, but failed to put the ball into the empty net.
While the first part was delayed, Billy received a cross as Tzoulakis stopped the ball with his head and it went out for a corner. Thus, Olympiacos entered the locker room with a huge lead, and had to defend it in the second 45 minutes.
Villa, knowing they wanted three goals in extra time, entered the second half strongly. In the 50th minute, Watkins got a header in the heart of the area and the ball went wide of the goal. The red and white teams fought great battles, with Iborra excelling in the obstacle part and overcoming many stages. In the 51st minute, Fortounis bent down and shot the ball, but Martins fell into his corner and blocked it.
In the 60th minute, Duran shot from the left side inside the area. Tzoulakis blocked it in the first half and the defense put it away for a corner. The match was centered in the midfield, with intense battles, and Red and White gave their hearts and souls to preserve the gains.
Olympiacos managed to achieve the result in style, with Medibar doing his best from the bench, while also bringing 21-year-old Apostolos Apostolopoulos into the game due to Kenny’s injury and his inability to continue in the match.
However, the evening was also full of the beautiful side, which was the goal with which the red and white team scored the final match. Ayoub El Kaabi entered the heart of the defense after Tzoulakis passed him, and found himself in a four-way position in front of Martinez, so he scored, but the goal was disallowed due to offside by the assistant.
VAR had a different view, shortly after the Moroccan’s goal was awarded, making it 2-0 with Karaiskakis concussing himself and breaking all the counters to equal Alekos Alexandris’ record of 32 goals in a season.
- Olympic: Tzoulakis, Rodini, Ritsos, Karmo, Kenny (77′ Apostolopoulos), Essie, Iborra (73′ Orta), Tsikineou, Fortonis, Pontense (64′ Masouras), El Kaabi.
- Aston Villa: Martinez, Kas (86′ Kesler-Hayden), Carlos (65′ Iruigbunam), Torres, Dean (86′ Monroe), Konsa, McGinn, Bailly (86′ Keleman), Luiz, Diaby (58′ Duran), Watkins.
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