Carvalhal saw his inspiration come out, Terim responded with two goals and the “Eternals” would finally go to the “Karaiskakis” to find out who deserved to go. Pantelis Diamantopoulos writes.
The game began as time ticked down the avenue. Panathinaikos and Olympiacos fought a beautiful battle, they had one half each, and by leaving the qualification issue open I believe they will easily forget this 1-1 and focus on their next duties.
Both coaches laugh even harder. For it had become comparatively disgraceful to both of them, but they had each contributed a half. Carvalhal first, Terim second. Is this enough? No.
If it was our championship, we would discuss it differently, but you should always know what you are talking about. Here it is the first Betsson Greek Cup match.
Olympiakos has the right to be happy, because based on what happened on Sunday, many expected the worst (mainly psychologically), Panathinaikos started a heavy games, so the second match in Karaiskakis will have more history. Quarter final!
With Alexandropoulos on a mission
Yet those surprised by Carvalhal's early selections realized relatively early on that the Portuguese had managed to short-circuit Panathinaikos. Even getting a goal from a player taking his first good footballing steps in a green shirt.
Piraeus used a 4-4-2 with Sodris Alexandropoulos next to Navarro every time their opponents “set up” from the back attack. The old green midfielder was running like a madman, pressing his opponents' first balls.
Behind the duo were Carvalho and Eze in the centre, Mazuras on the right and Richards on the left. When Olympiakos received the ball, Alexandropoulos came close to the central midfielders and both wingers moved to support Navarro.
The guests won most of their duels in the 45th minute, were more threatening and above all played with more intensity than at other times.
Terim saw his players struggle to hold onto the ball and Pasalakis was unable to threaten by taking it several meters out of the area. Olympiakos lacked the quality of Fortuny-Bodens on the grass, but they scored more runs and scored more doubles in the nerve-wracking area of the centre. The whole situation gave confidence to the Olympiakos back four, which was unmistakable throughout the first half…
Transitions and carbon targets
Generally, stepping better than your opponent gives you the confidence that you too will score a goal at some point. After Karvalhos' corner, there was a… salad in the Trefoil area and 0-1 was a fact with Alexandropoulos' beautiful execution.
The introduction of Potens in place of Richards ahead of Ortega provided another level of quality, but also gave Panathinaikos a chance to threaten from his right.
However, one of the home side's biggest problems, especially in the first half, was that they didn't leave the field. Until Aitor played, he closed, and Juricic did until he scored. Mancini and Verbig wanted to change that, but it wasn't easy.
Four years later, Kotsiras was back playing as a defensive midfielder (he did this once at Asteras) but he wasn't bad… and Panathinaikos' goal was scored as was Olympiakos' goal. A corner from the same spot as Mancini, Ioannidis and a header out of nowhere by defenders, as on Sunday, Levia Garcia did what he wanted for a half-time.
The changes helped Panathinaikos (they played with two goals), while the Olympiakos players suffocated as time went on. Navarro and Mazouras couldn't chase like the first part, while I think Alexandropoulos shouldn't go out to 60. Pontens didn't give much, Gini and Kamara were no better than their replacements, Fortunis and Jovedic tried to keep the ball, and now Panathinaikos raised the bar…
Braeus made two good visits in the last minutes before loading, the Athenians missed two strong chances and eventually everyone left their own complaints and went to bed.
About Accounts!
It won't be long before we find out who wins with this pairing. The first match gave promise for the second match as well and now the opponents know each other well. In between, Panathinaikos will go to the OPAP Arena, where AEK's pressure can't withstand more than Olympiakos, while the “red and white” will fly to Kaisariani to face Kifisia, looking for continued victories.