Just Missed the Clinical Finish

Just Missed the Clinical Finish

By Christian Leggas

Greece’s long-awaited UEFA Nations League campaign has got off to not a poor start, but it was perhaps a far from an ideal one, as we failed to take all three points away to Slovenia.

There wasn’t a heap of chances to speak of at either end in a largely uneventful first half.

Promising young striker Vangelis Pavlidis managed to get off a curling shot away in the fifth-minute mark, but it was one that was never going to trouble Slovenian Goalkeeper Jan Oblak as he caught it with ease.

Nine minutes later off the back of a Slovenian corner, Greece had a golden chance to potentially take the lead on the counter-attack. But an errant Michalis Bakakis pass meant that the move became unstuck and allowed the Slovenian defenders to get back.

Greece's high pressing was very evident in the first 20 minutes, as most times Slovenia looked to attack, Greece did do a good job of forcing them back into their half. Subsequently, as the half went on, possession and chances were firmly in favour of Greece.

As 28 minutes ticked by, a dangerous Bakakis cross fell to the feet of Pavlidis for another opportunity, but the young striker couldn't dig the ball out of his feet to fire a shot away.

Whilst it was a first period that produced half-chances at best, The Ethniki would have been disappointed that they couldn’t turn their possession dominance into clear-cut chances. Which was ultimately why the score was still nil-nil at half time.

The theme of the beginning of the second half was very much the same as the first. As Greece continued to boss possession of the ball, but still lacked that killer final pass or finish.

One of the best chances of the game came on fifty-one minutes. As Dimitris Limnios found himself in acres of space, but he could only fire his shot straight at Oblak.

Captain on the night Anastasios Bakasetas then tried luck with a dubious attempt from distance four minutes later, which found its way firmly onto the chest of Oblak.

The Skipper then turned provider five minutes later, as his cross from an initially cleared corner found Pavlidis' head, but the Willem II front-man was unable to direct his header anywhere near the goal.

Ten minutes before the end, Greece passed up another glorious chance. As Dimitris Siovas found himself onside and in a rare goalscoring position, but his tame strike could only find Oblak's gloves. He could have potentially played in substitute Taxiarchis Fountas, who would have had an open goal to aim at. Though that opportunity was probably much easier to see from a spectator’s point of view.

Five minutes after Greece missed arguably their best chance, Slovenia missed their clearest avenue to goal all night. As striker Andraž Šporar somehow put his close-range shot wide after receiving a rare opportunity from a cross into the box. My heart was in my mouth as boot went to ball there, as that could have so easily have been a show that Ethniki fans have undoubtedly seen before. Where we dominate the ball and are hit with a sucker-punch after failing to capitalize on our chances. Taking our chances is an area where we must improve on because if you don’t do that, all of your team’s hard work can be undone just like that.

At the end of the day, neither team took any chance that came their way as the game finished scoreless. It was a missed opportunity for Greece, who certainly enjoyed the bulk of possession and chances. But in saying that, a point isn't the end of the world.

It was hard to pick one standout player for the Ethniki in this game. In their first match together as a centre-back partnership. Stratos Svarnas and Dimitris Siovas deserve a big pat on the back, as they played a big part in keeping Slovenia's attackers at bay for most of the game. Dimitris Giannoulis, Anastasios Bakasetas, and Dimitris Limnios deserve some praise too for their efforts when attacking throughout the match.

Up next is an away trip to Kosovo. Ultimately in this game, we got away with not making the most of our chances. 

I'll take the point, but we must be more clinical against Kosovo in three days and future matches.

Hellas Football 

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