Despite its good, yet not goal-bearing display and against poor refereeing by Russian Karasev, Olympiacos was consigned to defeat by Malmo for MD 2 of UEFA Champions League group stage…
Speaking of chances, Olympiacosruledthematchuntilthe 30’ and they could have taken the lead, however, they failed to do so. The same happened with respect to protecting Roberto’s goal. Rosenberg’s goal in 42’ came when Malmo had just balanced the match, despite Olympiacos’ superiority.
Thefirsthalfendedwith a score line that was not even close to the story of the match. Itisworthmentioningthat with 25 minutes played, ball possession for Olympiacos was at 62%! A Mitroglou’s goal in 41’ was–apparently- wrong fully called offsince the Greek “hitman” was not offside.
SecondhalfstartedwithOlympiacosattackingmoreaggressively, adding pressureand keeping Malmo in their own half. The home side had a hard time blocking Olympiacos attacks, but it was referee Karassef who showed extreme skills in that when, in 56’, he refused a crystal clear penalty call for Maniatis following a tackle by Tinerholm! That would call for a sent-off, let alone a yellow card. On the contrary, the referee booked Olympiacos’ captain that led everyone in ourside’sbenchtoerupt!
Olympiacos’ pressure was still there and then Diamantakos replaced Afellay in the pitch. Durmaz would take more initiatives, however heal so failed to score. Malmo’s second goal just came to prove that in football the winner is not always the side that deserves it the most…
OLYMPIACOS: Roberto, Elabdellaoui, Masuaku, Botia, Abidal,Milivojevic, N’Dinga (57’ Dominguez), Maniatis, Kasami (69’ Durmaz), Afellay (79’ Diamantakos), Mitroglou.
