Olympiakos off the mark, defeating Dortmund
Reuters - Wednesday 19 October 2011, 22:29
Olympiakos got their first points
in Champions League Group F by comfortably beating Borussia
Dortmund 3-1 at the Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium on Wednesday.
The home side opened the scoring after just seven minutes
when Ivan Marcano crossed from the left and found Jose Holebas,
who outmuscled two defenders and planted a firm header past
keeper Roman Weidenfeller.
Robert Lewandowski equalised but goals from Rafik Djebbour
and Francois Modesto sealed victory for the Greek champions.
"We knew that if we were to lose today, we would be out of
Europe," said Olympiakos coach Ernesto Valverde. "Our players
had the experience to handle the situation better as the game
wore on.
"Dortmund played a fast game and pressed high up the pitch
but we were able to take control of the game in the second
half."
Olympiakos and Borussia traded chances before Polish striker
Lewandowski, who had earlier seen a goal ruled out for offside,
teed up a volley on the edge of the area and fired past Franco
Costanzo to equalise for the visitors in the 26th minute.
Kevin Mirallas missed a couple of good chances for the home
side before his good work on the right led to Djebbour putting
Olympiakos back in front. The Algerian received the ball in the
penalty area, evaded his marker and fired home in the 40th
minute.
Four minutes later, Djebbour had the chance to extend the
lead but he volleyed the ball into the ground and saw his shot
skew the wrong side of the post.
Olympiakos continued to create chances in the second half.
Defender Modesto headed straight at Weidenfeller in the 62nd
minute when unmarked at a free-kick. Mirallas missed another
great opportunity three minutes later as he failed to finish off
a rapid counter-attack.
Modesto made amends for his miss on 77 minutes, when he
flicked an Ariel Ibagaza free-kick past Weidenfeller to seal the
three points for the home side.
Having lost their first two games in Group F, this was a
more convincing performance from the Greek champions who will
travel to Dortmund for their next game on November 1 hoping for a
similar performance.
Dortmund coach Jurgen Klopp blamed his side's inexperience.
"Olympiakos is a good team and I wasn't surprised by their
quality but we let them go in at half-time with the lead," said
Klopp.
"My team's lack of experience means that we are not yet
fully aware that we need to be totally focused in these games."