Dreamland for the Erythrolefkoi

Dreamland for the Erythrolefkoi

By Gavin Waymire

Olympiakos pulled off the impossible, beating Arsenal 1-2 in London to progress to the Europa League Round of 16. Let’s take a look at how each player performed.

Goalkeeper, José Sá: 7/10- Faultless throughout and always looked calm on the ball. Nothing the Portuguese stopper could have done to keep Aubameyang out.

Left-Back, Kostas Tsimikas: 9/10- Another incredible performance from Olympiakos’ young star. Nothing got past him all night and he was always a menace down the left flank. Was unlucky not to score in the first half with a brilliant effort only denied by Leno.

Center-Back, Ousseynou Ba: 8/10- A great performance from the Senegalese giant. Picked up a yellow for a clumsy challenge just outside the area in the first half, but was impenetrable throughout. Over two legs, Ba was fantastic.

Center-Back, Pape Abou Cissé: 9/10- Stepped up in Semedo’s absence and put on an absolute blinder. Fantastic in defense all night long with Ba, and scored the crucial equalizer with a brilliant header in the 53’ minute.

Right-Back, Omar Elabdellaoui: 7/10- Was tireless on the right, did well defensively and was great on the ball. A true captain’s performance from the Norwegian.

Center-Midfielder, Andreas Bouchalakis: 8/10- Worked tirelessly in the middle of the park and broke up the Arsenal attack at every opportunity. Showed his quality when it mattered, and helped the Reds control the midfield for large portions of the match.

Center-Midfielder, Guilherme: 7/10- A quiet night overall from the Brazilian but he was faultless nonetheless. Worked hard with Camara and Bouchalakis.

Center-Midfielder, Mohamed Camara: 7/10- Pushed forward to help facilitate the attack but did his fair share on defense as well. Brought great energy and effort.

Left-Winger, Mathieu Valbuena: 7/10- A quiet night by the Frenchman’s standards, but did a lot of work covering Tsimikas defensively and was quality in possession as always.

Center-Forward, Youssef El-Arabi: 9/10- Another brilliant performance for El-Arabi. Forced to feed off of scraps, he did well to hold up the ball when the Erythrolefkoi did make a foray forwards. Then the goal… to have nothing come your way for 120 minutes and then step up and score the most important goal of your career is nothing short of heroic. The Moroccan will not soon be forgotten in Piraeus.

Right-Winger, Lazar Randelović: 7/10- Showing his quality, the Serb kept Saka quiet and showed brilliant pace on the counter. A promising player for the future.

Substitutes

Giorgios Masouras: 8/10- The Greek was terrible in Piraeus last week and was duly benched, however tonight he had the chance to redeem himself, and he made great efforts to do so. Defended well and looked sharp going forwards, was unlucky not to score an absolute peach of a goal in extra time but teed up El-Arabi with a brilliant cross in the last minute of extra time,

Bruno Gaspar: 7/10- In his best showing for the Piraeus club, he showed great spirit both defensively and going forward. A wonderful performance from the Angolan defender.

Maximiliano Lovera: N/A- Only got six minutes on the pitch, didn’t have time to do much but showed good energy.

Avraam Papadopoulos: N/A- Came on with 3 minutes to go so Cissé could be deployed as a makeshift forward, didn’t have time to do much.

Coach, Pedro Martins: 10/10- His tactics were immaculate. He outdid Arteta and guided his side to a famous, famous victory. After a disappointing result last week, the Portuguese manager has done incredibly well to pick the team up and earn a couple of massive results.