Kosovo vs Greece - Ratings

Kosovo vs Greece Ratings

John van 't Schip made a few changes to the line up after the underwhelming draw with Slovenia. Stafylidis, Fortounis and Koulouris all came in for Siovas, Mantalos and Pavlidis respectively and Greece came out the doors flying with a fantastically hard worked goal from young PAOK winger Dimitris Limnos in the 2nd minute to put the visitors ahead against Kosovo and giving him his second international goal. 

The home team pressured Greece for 10 or so minutes after the goal, but the Ethniki’s defence held firm as always and Barkas made a couple of decent saves. Greece began to take control of the game with the young side looking much more comfortable with Limnios continuing to threaten Kosovo on the right hand side and it certainly was an energetic performance in the first 20 minutes of the match.

They did however at times struggled to play out of the back and were caught a few times by Kosovo’s attacking front with a corner conceded and Barkas letting the ball slip from his grasp only for the ball to be kicked away. Stafylidis was subbed off towards the end of the first half through injury with Siovas coming on to see out the rest of the game in defence. Two very dangerous chances to equalise late on in the first half for Kosovo, gave Greece a scare but the first shot went wide and a set piece delivered into the box was easily saved by Barkas. Both sides went into half time at 0-1 to Greece.

Much like the beginning of the match Greece started brightly in the second half with Bakasetas shot whistling just over the bar. They did not have to wait long for a second goal however, as a cross from Giannoulis found Siovas, who controlled it expertly and fired the Ethniki into a 0-2 lead against the home side. Greece comfortably saw out the remainder of the half with Kosovo heads slowly dropping as defeat for them drew ever nearer.

With the match entering the closing stages Kosovo were handed a life line from a Barkas mistake and Kosovo were able to pull it back to 1-2. With a chance to steal an undeserved draw the home side piled on the pressure in the latter stages of the match with Greece attempting to shut up shop and maintain their lead and ultimately that is exactly what they did. The match ended 1-2 to the Ethniki

GK Vasilis Barkas 7/10

Started the game comfortably at first but did once let the ball slip out of his hand in a dangerous position only for his team mates to come to his aid. Was not afraid to defend his goal with the Celtic keeper being brought down in the 35th Minute. Was at fault for Kosovo’s goal however, not something you want to see from the starting keeper although he was fouled.

RB Michalis Bakakis 7/10

Was strong in attack and able to help Greece gain valuable ground on the attack, even winning a dangerous set piece in the first half, although with his high pressing came Kosovo’s counter attacking as the space he left gave the opposing side the chance to go on the break.

CB Stratos Svarnas 7/10

Started the match more confident then the previous game, still at times put his team mates on edge with one or two unsuspecting passes and was beaten a few times in the air. Still, he did his job well and was fearless in his tackles throughout.

CB Kostas Stafylidis 6.5/10

The Greek David Alaba they’re calling him now. Despite that, let's say, interesting comparison, the captain played fairly well in a position that he is not accustomed to outside of the national team. He, like Svarnas, was not great at passing the ball out from the back to outfield teammates or Barkas. Sadly he was forced off through injury with 7 minutes of the first half to go and was replaced with Siovas.

LB Dimitris Giannoulis 8

Linked up well with Fortounis on the left hand side, and had a bit of an injury scare himself midway through the first half but played on. Like Bakakis was caught unawares on the counter but I felt he was able to recover much better than his defensive counterpart. He was at hand to provide the assist for Siovas.

CDM Zeca 6.5/10

Almost always a useful player when he plays for Greece and was better then in the previous game against Slovenia, neither did terribly or was a stand out performer. Did not light up the match but was not indivisible in the match either.

CDM Dimitris Kourbelis 6/10

While good at regaining possession, the biggest problem with the panathinaikos man this match was his distribution which is clearly not a strong point to his game. Still the job he was put out to do he managed for the most part but he needs to improve his passing to become a more rounded player for the national team.

CAM Anastasios Bakasetas 6/10

Sounds harsh but I completely forgot Bakasetas was on the pitch in the first half and much like the last game seemed to struggle to help Greece create anything in the middle of attack. Had a close effort come close at the beginning of the second half but has struggled to show his usefulness in both these fixtures. 

LM Kostas Fortounis 6.5/10

Showed some superb touches and was a nuisance on the left hand side of the attack, a position in which he can play. Passing at times was sloppy but was always intent on getting the ball forward. He seemed to fall away as the match carried on however, and was subbed off at the hour mark for Olympiakos team mate Giorgios Masouras.

RM Dimitris Limnios 8.5/10 MOTM

Did really well to get the first goal early on in the match after his first shot was well saved and he hit the deflection well and true straight passed the keeper to make it 0-1 to the Ethniki. Was definitely the most prominent attacker for Greece tonight and I think I’m going to give him my Man of the Match award.

ST Efthymis Koulouris 7/10

Wrongly flagged for off sides when he was put through towards the end of the first half. In and out of the game for me but did look dangerous when in the Kosovo box and can definitely be Greece number 9 more consistently in the future. Was subbed off in the 83rd minute for Mantalos.

 

Substitutes

Dimitris Siovas 8/10

What an introduction to the game. 6 Minutes into the second half and the Leganes giant controlled the ball supurbly from Giannoulis cross, in the box and slotted it home to put Greece 0-2 up. His first goal for his country and it is a special one. So much calmer presence in defence and kept Kosovo from creating much more.

Giorgios Masouras 5.5

Came on as a more natural left midfield on the hour mark. Hardly affected the game for me, was more comfortable on the left then Fortounis but as said did not really impact the game for me in his 30 minutes on the pitch

Petros Mantalos N/A 

Came on late as a replacement for Koulouris did not really make an impact for a rating for me.

Manager 

John van 't Schip 6.5/10

Was quicker to make substitutes when it was needed, despite one being because of an injury, but seemed to know better when to bring players off and change things up to keep the team ticking along. Was not sure why he took off Koulouris for Mantalos who is not a forward but it did not hurt Greece in their victory.

Hellas Football

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