OLYMPIAKOS NET WIN

Greek football had another reason to cheer after the recent round of Champions League after the Greek team Olympiacos managed a stunning 2-1 victory over the Premier league club Arsenal. This victory means that the Premier league club Arsenal will not be able to finish top of the group. Arsene Wenger came into the match looking for a victory that will finally bring it into the poor run of form experienced by his team, but he was left disappointed once again after the team failed to win the match. This defeat means that they finished second in the group, which will mean that they will be facing a tough team in the knockout stages of the tournament.

Even more difficult to take for Arsene Wenger is the fact that the crucial second leg will be away from home in the last 16 stage of the competition. Olympiacos did not have the opportunity to progress to the next stage of the Champions League. However, this victory has significantly boosted their opportunities to play in the Europa league in the second half of the season. Arsenal were coming into the match on the back of the 2-0 defeat suffered at the hands of Swansea during the weekend. The manager made a number of changes to the team, which was forced upon him.

“For their first goal, it was a goal kick not a corner, simple as that. I don’t think it was the right decision, but we have to cope with it. After that they scored a good goal. We had a good first half but dropped physically in the second. Many of the players are not used to that level. We had two or three chances to score a second but after that we know we can be in trouble,” said the Arsenal manager.

LEVEL PEGGING

The Europa League match played between Panathinaikos and Lazio at Olympiako Stadio Spyros Louis on Thursday has ended in a draw. Both the teams scored one goal each.

This was the third match for Panathinaikos in the ongoing Europa League. The Panathinaikos team hasn’t managed to secure victory in any of those three matches. The team has lost one match, while, the remaining two matches have finished without any result. Panathinaikos currently has two points in 3 games.

This was the third Europa League game for Lazio as well. Lazio had won one out of its previous two games, while, the remaining one had finished without any result. Lazio currently has four points in 3 matches.

The match was played at the home ground of Panathinaikos and a large number of spectators turned up to enjoy the encounter. It turned out to be a fantastic football match.

Lazio got the lead in the 25th minute of the match courtesy of an own goal from Giourkas Seitraidis. Lazio maintained that lead till the 89th minute of the match. It seemed that the Panathinaikos team might have to suffer its second defeat in the tournament, but, that didn’t happen.  The Panathinaikos players should be credited for showing tremendous composure towards the end of the match.

Panathinaikos managed to level the scores in the very last minute of the match with the goal of Toche. It was a great shot by the Spanish striker under pressure. Vitolo was the one who set up the goal for Toche.

In the post match press conference, the manager of Panathinaikos, Jesualdo Ferreira said, “The boys showed great character under pressure. We played wonderfully well in the last 15 minutes. Apart from that own goal, we didn’t make too many mistakes in the match and I think we deserved three points. But, that’s the way it goes. You don’t always get what you deserve. Overall, I am very happy with my team’s performance.”