Introduction
Todays game came from a sunny Cretan city of Heraklion where we played OFI in the 23rd round of the Superleague. Leading into the match we had some minor problems up front with Pantelic out for the season and Djebbour suspended. We had a competant backup plan with Mirallas and Diogo being available though and no other problems were found prior to the match.
As regards the player lineup the only thing worth mentioning was that Diogo didn't start the match and instead the front three were Abdoun, Kazim-Richards and Mirallas. The OFI fans had filled up the stadium today proving that there really is only Olympiakos and anti-Olympiakos fans in Greece (OFI usually churn out less than 2000 fans in their home games).
First Half Begins
The game began with a few minutes of both sides fighting for the ball, we got away our first chance of the game although OFI quickly reacted and came close with a chance of their own in the 5th minute. In the early minutes of the game, neither side had made much impact on the game. We were trying to build chances slowly through possession whilst OFI were counter attacking very quickly. Mellberg was yellow carded in the 11th minute for accidentally kicking Kabantais in the head during a clearance and that summed up the opening quarter hour.
Fighting For Control
We still hadn't stamped our control on the game after the opening fifteen minutes and we were still fighting for control in the centre of the pitch all too often. We were getting plenty of possession though and some of that in very dangerous places so the game could have easily turned in favour for us at any time. OFI were still proving to be dangerous though with the odd run into our territory and we had to be a little careful as to close down any chances they could have created.
Holebas Scores A Stunning Goal
On the stroke of 30 minutes we had a period of good play with us winning a free kick in a good position and then a corner minutes later which led to a chance on goal but the subsequent header going over the net. The Cretan side soon recovered though and again we were left having to fight for the ball across the centre of midfield. We did get a couple of half decent chances with Torosidis getting perhaps the best until we finally grabbed the opening goal. Holebas took a wonderful shot from well outside the area which sailed over everyone and straight into the back of the net. My description doesn't do justice to this goal, it was an absolutely amazing shot. The goal signalled the end of the half. So we had got the goal and the advantage now and generally had a decent half albeit with not enough clear chances for my liking.
Kazim-Richards Scores
Initially we began the second half providing some pressure on the OFI goal and come close to scoring again before the ball is taken back to the middle of the pitch again. We get a second goal in the 54th minute courtesy of Colin Kazim-Richards who had a simple tap in to an open net after Abdoun had broken into the box and dragged almost all the defenders and the keeper onto him. It was a simple debut goal for the loan player but appreciated all the same.
Onto The Defensive
The second goal led to a change in strategy with us moving onto the defensive and attempting to soak up the Cretan pressure. This in turn led to OFI having more chances on goal and a 6rd minute shot which was hit hard and required some real skill from Megyeri to push onto the crossbar. We dealt with the increased pressure by counter attacking up the pitch whenever we could. We introduced Modesto for Ibagasa to help us out defensively and help soak up the pressure.
End Of The Game
In the final quarter hour of the game we continued to play the largely defensive strategy and this confounded OFI as they were unable to break through our defence in any serious numbers. When we did counter-attack up the pitch we dragged the entire Cretan side back up the field. We had a couple of shots on their goal from Mirallas but these were of low quality and either went wide or were easily picked up by the referee. This proved to be it generally for the match, with the game finishing after 3 minutes of extra time and with it, we had notched up another win.
OFI 0-2 Olympiakos
45' Holebas
54' Kazim-Richards
Olympiakos : Megyeri, Torosidis, Mellberg, Papadopoulos, Holebas, Orbaiz, Makoun, Ibagasa (76' Modesto), Kazim-Richards, Abdoun (88' Fuster), Mirallas (85' Marcano)
Todays game came from a sunny Cretan city of Heraklion where we played OFI in the 23rd round of the Superleague. Leading into the match we had some minor problems up front with Pantelic out for the season and Djebbour suspended. We had a competant backup plan with Mirallas and Diogo being available though and no other problems were found prior to the match.
As regards the player lineup the only thing worth mentioning was that Diogo didn't start the match and instead the front three were Abdoun, Kazim-Richards and Mirallas. The OFI fans had filled up the stadium today proving that there really is only Olympiakos and anti-Olympiakos fans in Greece (OFI usually churn out less than 2000 fans in their home games).
First Half Begins
The game began with a few minutes of both sides fighting for the ball, we got away our first chance of the game although OFI quickly reacted and came close with a chance of their own in the 5th minute. In the early minutes of the game, neither side had made much impact on the game. We were trying to build chances slowly through possession whilst OFI were counter attacking very quickly. Mellberg was yellow carded in the 11th minute for accidentally kicking Kabantais in the head during a clearance and that summed up the opening quarter hour.
Fighting For Control
We still hadn't stamped our control on the game after the opening fifteen minutes and we were still fighting for control in the centre of the pitch all too often. We were getting plenty of possession though and some of that in very dangerous places so the game could have easily turned in favour for us at any time. OFI were still proving to be dangerous though with the odd run into our territory and we had to be a little careful as to close down any chances they could have created.
Holebas Scores A Stunning Goal
On the stroke of 30 minutes we had a period of good play with us winning a free kick in a good position and then a corner minutes later which led to a chance on goal but the subsequent header going over the net. The Cretan side soon recovered though and again we were left having to fight for the ball across the centre of midfield. We did get a couple of half decent chances with Torosidis getting perhaps the best until we finally grabbed the opening goal. Holebas took a wonderful shot from well outside the area which sailed over everyone and straight into the back of the net. My description doesn't do justice to this goal, it was an absolutely amazing shot. The goal signalled the end of the half. So we had got the goal and the advantage now and generally had a decent half albeit with not enough clear chances for my liking.
Kazim-Richards Scores
Initially we began the second half providing some pressure on the OFI goal and come close to scoring again before the ball is taken back to the middle of the pitch again. We get a second goal in the 54th minute courtesy of Colin Kazim-Richards who had a simple tap in to an open net after Abdoun had broken into the box and dragged almost all the defenders and the keeper onto him. It was a simple debut goal for the loan player but appreciated all the same.
Onto The Defensive
The second goal led to a change in strategy with us moving onto the defensive and attempting to soak up the Cretan pressure. This in turn led to OFI having more chances on goal and a 6rd minute shot which was hit hard and required some real skill from Megyeri to push onto the crossbar. We dealt with the increased pressure by counter attacking up the pitch whenever we could. We introduced Modesto for Ibagasa to help us out defensively and help soak up the pressure.
End Of The Game
In the final quarter hour of the game we continued to play the largely defensive strategy and this confounded OFI as they were unable to break through our defence in any serious numbers. When we did counter-attack up the pitch we dragged the entire Cretan side back up the field. We had a couple of shots on their goal from Mirallas but these were of low quality and either went wide or were easily picked up by the referee. This proved to be it generally for the match, with the game finishing after 3 minutes of extra time and with it, we had notched up another win.
OFI 0-2 Olympiakos
45' Holebas
54' Kazim-Richards
Olympiakos : Megyeri, Torosidis, Mellberg, Papadopoulos, Holebas, Orbaiz, Makoun, Ibagasa (76' Modesto), Kazim-Richards, Abdoun (88' Fuster), Mirallas (85' Marcano)
01:25
03:56
00:46
02:58
03:56
03:26
03:56
01:03
03:44
03:09