Olympiakos vs Royal Antwerp Match Review

Olympiakos vs Royal Antwerp Match Review.

By Christian Leggas,

Olympiacos have begun their 2021-22 UEFA Europa League campaign with the ideal result, claiming a two-one win over Royal Antwerp.

 

The game had a fast pace about it for its entirety. Two minutes in, and we saw the first chance. As Antwerp's Mbwana Samatta put wide a header from close range that at least should have been on target.

 

Olympiacos' first chance came eleven minutes later when captain Andreas Bouchalakis did well to keep a byline-bound ball in play with a neat backheel, then turn, to set up Youssef El-Arabi, who had his shot blocked.

 

An even clearer opportunity to score was to come seven minutes later when man-of-the-match Mady Camara had time and space to test Antwerp goalkeeper Jean Butez, but his tame effort didn't trouble him as he made an easy save.

 

A dead ball presented Olympiacos' next best chance to score. As a well-flighted ball by Andreas Bouchalakis found the head of Pape Cissé. Who couldn't direct his header on target when he probably should have like Samatta at the other end earlier in the match.

 

Olympiacos thought they had the lead eight minutes from halftime, as Youssef El-Arabi did brilliantly to control Mady Camara's cross and guide it into the net. But he did so from an offside position, which was the correct call when you look at the replay.

 

Following that correctly ruled out goal, Antwerp nearly had one of their own. When a counter-attack resulted in Viktor Fischer being nicely played through by Mbwana Samatta, the side-footed effort of the Danish-winger was to end up going just wide of the corner of the net.

 

Fischer then turned provider for Samatta three minutes later, as his dangerous corner-kick found its way to the big striker. Unexpectedly it seemed too, as he couldn't get any meaningful contact to the ball with his header as it went wide of the target. Again, like that chance two minutes into the game, he should have done better with the opportunity.

 

The fast-paced first half then came to a close, with both teams still locked at nil-nil.

 

Six minutes into the first half, and this time, no offside call was to deny Olympiacos a lead for the second time. Once again, Mady Camara was the creator, as like the ruled out goal in the first half, his pin-point cross was met expertly by the head this time of Youssef El-Arabi, giving Jean Butez no chance to save it. One-nil Olympiacos.

 

Camara was at his creative best again, this time from the dead ball seven minutes later. On this occasion, again from this scenario. It was big-defender Pape Cisse on the end of it, but his powerful header flashed just wide of goal.

 

Antwerp started to grow into the game as the game went beyond the seventieth minute. The away-side then got rewarded for their dominance with the equalising goal. Substitute Manuel Benson's cross was met expertly by a seemingly-unmarked Mbwana Samatta, as like El-Arabi at the other end, found the net with a perfectly-placed and powerful header to make it one-one with fifteen minutes to play.

 

Samatta was a pain the backside for Olympiacos all-game, and it was him again who would send a scare through the home side, this time with a powerful distance strike on eighty-three minutes that was very close to creeping into the corner.

 

Manuel Benson was a handful too for the home side after coming onto the pitch, breathing more confidence into the away-sides attack, as it was then his turn to test Olympiacos goalkeeper Tomáš Vaclík, which he did. But, thankfully, for the home side, the effort like Samatta's two minutes earlier went wide of the target.

 

Olympiacos had been on the back-foot for a large portion of the second half and didn't look overly threatening until there was a bolt from the blue. Substitute Marios Vrousai did well not to give up creating a chance, as his persistence paid off when he brought left-back Oleg Reabciuk into play. Who then remarkably found the net with an off-balance but clinical finish to restore Olympiacos' lead.

 

That turned out to be the winning goal and the final chance of the game. The match ended in a two-one win in favour of Olympiacos. It was without a doubt the best possible start in the way of a result, perhaps not the ninety-minute performance that Olympiacos were after, but they'll take the points and move on.

 

As mentioned, Mady Camara was the man of the match. His energetic midfield presence and work rate were second-to-none throughout the time he was on the pitch. His namesake Aguibou Camara and full-back Michał Karbownik deserve special mentions. Aguibou particularly with his strength when holding up the ball and when using his pace.

 

Olympiacos' next assignment in this season's Europa League is an away trip to Fenerbahçe, where they'll have to be more solid defensively and more potent up-front. Hopefully, by then, the likes of Rony Lopes, Henry Onyekuru and Tiquinho are gelling more. Plus, the possible return of Giorgos Masouras can also aid that need for more attacking potency.

Hellas Football 

Follow @christianleggas