Greek side won 4-2 at Aston Villa Park to leave Unai Emery’s men facing an uphill battle to qualify for the final
The Greek Super League team Olympiacos defeated Aston Villa 4-2 in an incredible first leg of their UEFA Europa Conference League semi-final, giving them a two-goal edge when they return to Athens.
The 47-time Greek Premier League winners ruined the festivities at Villa Park, which was hosting a European semifinal for the first time since 1982, with an outstanding exhibition of counterattacking football.
Villa now has a difficult challenge ahead of them if they are to make it to the final when they go to Greece on Thursday, May 9, for the second leg.
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How the match unfolded
In Villa’s most recent game, a 2-2 draw at home against Chelsea, Unai Emery made three changes to the starting lineup.
Robin Olsen started in goal while Emiliano Martinez was serving a one-match suspension. Moussa Diaby took Youri Tielemans’ place in midfield due to an injury, and Clement Lenglet was chosen over Pau Torres in defense.
In the sixteenth minute, Ayoub El Kaabi scored for Olympiacos as he raced on to a deft flick by Chiquinho and finished past Olsen. After a VAR review, the decision to rule someone out for offside was reversed.
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The Greek team, making their first-ever appearance in a European semifinal, extended their lead just before the half-hour mark. Chiquinho contributed significantly to the build-up once more before Daniel Podence, a former Wolverhampton Wanderers winger, set up El Kaabi for his second goal, giving the visitors an unexpected 2-0 lead.
Villa responded in stoppage time of the first half to cut the deficit in half after Olympiacos nearly scored a third. After some excellent passing between Matty Cash and Diaby, Ollie Watkins scored his 26th goal of the season overall, firing past Konstantinos Tzolakis.
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Early in the second half, Villa Park was bouncing after Diaby’s shot squeezed past Tzolakis from a tight angle to level the score at 2-2.
But within four minutes, Olympiacos were ahead again as this breathless encounter took another twist. El Kaabi completed his hat-trick from the penalty spot after a handball by Douglas Luiz.
The visitors added a fourth on 67 minutes when Santiago Hezze’s long-range shot took a big deflection off Ezri Konsa, leaving Olsen helpless to stop it.
There was still time for more drama when Villa was awarded a penalty with nine minutes remaining. Substitute Jhon Duran was brought down by David Carmo, giving Douglas Luiz the chance to make amends from the spot – but the Brazil international struck against a post, leaving the home side with a huge task in the second leg in Athens, which comes four days after their Premier League trip to Brighton & Hove Albion on Sunday.
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