Olympiacos 2-0 Omonia: Shake a blade with Valbouena, El Arabi – Olympiacos

These are the five things that characterized yesterday’s match in “G. Karaiskakis”:

1. WITH YOU AND LOST BY … AIRLINES

Pedro Martins had two last minute surprises in store for the starting eleven. The Portuguese manager relied on the 4-2-3-1, however, he preferred the experienced Sa under the rafters to the 18-year-old Tzolakis, but also Ahmed Hassan at the top of the attack instead of Youssef El Arabi.

The change in the upper part of the attack was made because the technical direction of the ‘rojiblancos’ expected the Omonia players to defend in low meters, so they wanted a taller and more capable body in … aviation. At the same time, he wanted to reward the Egyptian striker for his good appearance during the time he played as a substitute against Asteras Tripolis.

The Cypriot team tried to score high with a 4-3-3 formation, while when the ball passed through the first zone, Berg’s players came together in a tight 4-4-2 creating three suspension lines, closing the spaces towards the Fabiano area. .

The first part of the match went as expected, with the guests in a passive role and Olympiakos in possession of a ball that did not provoke, however, any serious final effort.

2. LACK OF RACK AND ERRORS

It was noticeable despite the spirit and effort, the lack of rhythm and intensity on the part of the home team that could not be found in the last third of the field, against a defense that looked like a coach, with half of the players even In the area.

Until the first half hour, however, everything went creatively under Valbouena’s feet, with Fortounis and Masouras seeking to enter the equation. There were also several wrong decisions, although the game was correctly manifested from the ends, with both backs Rafinia and Cholebas getting the available width.

It’s no exaggeration that with the way he played, Omonia essentially hypnotized, but also short-circuited Olympiakos. With the exception of two shots in good condition that were made outside the area by Bouhalaki and Kamara, the first good moment came in the 36th minute with a wrong header from Hassan, after a Valbouena cross.

3. RIGHT TO DEVELOPMENT

Time ended with a dangerous volley from Fortunis, who increased his speed at 30 ‘, again by Valbouena. As a general conclusion, the “rojiblancos” appeared below expectations, on the one hand without hurry, but on the other hand, they fell very easily into the trap set by their guests. Nervous, without imagination, chemistry, and predictability. This was mainly due to the left wing not working effectively.

Cholebas was unable to help on offense, while the two organizers Valbouena and Fortounis leaned further to the right, to double Masoura. In addition, the ball did not enter the area to show Hassan more, since the players of the “rojiblanco” trio failed to combine properly in the intervals, to feed the Egyptian. Maybe because they got too low to grab the ball and build the attack …

4. TWO CHANGES FOR 4-4-2

The image of the game did not change until 58 ‘when Pedro Martins decided to intervene from the bench to throw Rangelovic and El Arabi into the game. The Serbian entered for his ease in “one on one” and the intensity of his game, while Youssef was called to fill the space in the space behind Hassan, to take the ball to the rival area.

With a clear 4-4-2, the ‘rojiblancos’ tried to take measures towards the attack and they succeeded to some extent, with more energy and confidence in their actions, but also clearer roles. Having three times as many passes from the Cypriot team, the Olympiacos players couldn’t find the … good to break Henning Berg’s team.

In the 67th minute, a Rafinia center found El Arabi in the misstep, who found the ball with his head, but missed from a very favorable position.

5. A PASS, PENALTY AND THE ARABI

Two minutes later, a good pass was finally passed to Randzelovic at the back of the defense, who stubbornly forced Lejaks to catch the falling ball and Makeli to show the white ball. Seeing the general panorama of his attack, Pedro Martins decided that after the 1-0 first he should close the zero in defense and continued with the 4-3-3, putting Embila on the field in place of Hassan.

Even so, however, the ‘rojiblancos’ found two other great opportunities with El Arabi, one with a close projection and the other with a header. The first time the Moroccan failed, the second forced Fabiano to repel the match in his right corner. Fortunately for Olympiakos, Yousef’s third and pharmacist arrived in the 92nd minute with the final 2-0 to open the way to qualification and remove the greatest stress ahead of the rematch, next Tuesday, in Nicosia.