Shorthanded Olympiacos overcome Nordsjælland

Olympiacos avoided any shocks tonight in Denmark, as the Piraeus club grabbed two second half goals to take the first leg of their two legged tie with FC Nordsjælland. A game that seemed decided ahead of kickoff saw the hosts put up a challenge, but visitors, Olympiacos, ultimately prevailed thanks to strikes from Kostantinos Mitroglou and Sebastian Leto.

The game got off to a quick pace with Olympiacos the more dominant of the two sides early. With menacing balls cutting the Nordsjælland box, a final touch was hard to come by and kept both sides level. Knowing this was there game to leave their mark, Nordsjælland began to attack in waves. With a maze of defenders guarding the Olympiacos goal, it was hard for the home side to find a weakness and exploit it. Settling to shoot from beyond the perimeter, Nordsjælland began to attempt shots from distance. With shots coming from all angles imaginable, Olympiakos looked to block each attempt. When bodies were unable to keep the ball away from the goal, the Nordsjælland efforts sailed either high or rolled wide. Despite the poor accuracy, one shot from Nordsjælland managed to be tricky as the ball whizzed past the defense but caught Antonis Nikopolidis’ right post.

A livelier second half was in store for the crowd at Farum Park, as the home side continued to challenge Olympiacos. However, a rise in action did not mean good fortune for the hosts. After a Nikopolidis error which saw the ball fall to a Nordsjælland attacker, the under pressure striker wasn’t able to direct the shot goal wards; instead his effort trickled wide.

With fortune on their side on the defensive end, Olympiacos searched for the same fortunes on the offensive front. With Vassilis Torosidis and Leonardo pushing forward and causing distractions along the flanks, the Greek Champions began to pin Nordsjælland in their own end. With pressure increasing on the home side, the breakthrough finally came on seventy-four minutes. A poor cross from Vassilis Torosidis handcuffed the defender, whose horrid clearance fell to Kostas Mitroglou and the Greece U-21 international controlled the bouncing ball before half-volleying a finish past Jesper Hansen.

It seemed all the hard work put in by Nordsjælland in the first half was all gone, as Olympiacos grabbed a crucial away goal. However, Nordsjælland’s misery wasn’t over as another series of defensive errors left Sebastian Leto all to his lonesome to tap in Olympiacos’ second goal and an insurance marker heading back to Greece.

Olympiacos did not impress on this night, and with a tough string of games on the horizon for Olympiacos, the team will have to return to the chemistry they fashioned last season. The Greek Champions will shift their focus to the Greek Super League as fixtures against Panserraikos and OFI Crete FC are ahead of the October 2nd replay against FC Nordsjælland.

With a deflating series of two goals, Nordsjælland will find the environment a challenge when the Danish side makes the trip to Piraeus. The Danish side will look to improve their domestic record as well, before making the trip to Greece.

Nordsjælland 0-2 Olympiacos
Mitroglou 74’, Leto 90 + 3’

Yellow Cards:
Nordsjælland – Karlsen 63’
Olympiacos – Belluschi 45 + 1’, Stoltidis 63’, Antzas 69’, Stoltidis 90’ (second)

Red Cards:
FC Nordsjælland – none.
Olympiacos – Stoltidis 90’ (sent off after double booking).

FC Nordsjælland (Morten Wieghorst): Hansen, Kidebe, Kildentoft, Lundberg, Karlsen, Bernier, Bernburg, Nakijima-Farran (64’ Christensen), S. Richter, Dahl (76’ Pedersen), J. Richter (Storm).

Olympiacos (Ernesto Valverde): Nikopolidis, Torosidis, A.Papadopoulos, Antzas, Domi, Stoltidis, Patsatzoglou, Galletti (61’ Diogo), Leonardo, Belluschi (85’ Dudu), Mitroglou (81’ Leto).

Venue: Farum Park, Farum, Denmark

Referee: Stefan Messner (Austria)