A goal from a rebound
Olympiakos won 2-0 away to Panetolikos in Agrinio in the 7th round of the Super League. Rocha opened the scoring in the 17th minute, when Fortounis hit a long, low shot that Panetolikos goalkeeper Xenopoulos could only parry. Rocha reached the loose ball first and turned it in from close range. It was his first league goal for Olympiakos. The visitors had dominated the opening stages, and the goal came after a run of chances that the home defence struggled to clear.
Chances at both ends
Olympiakos created chances from the first minutes, including a Rocha shot that Xenopoulos blocked. Marius headed wide in the 10th and 12th minutes, and Fortounis sent a placed shot wide in the 13th minute. Panetolikos came back through Manrique, whose left-foot effort in the 26th minute passed just over the crossbar. In the 32nd minute Mejia drove past Pirola and set up Basi with a fine pass, but Basi shot wide with almost the whole goal in front of him. Olympiakos went into the interval a goal ahead.
Ortega and Tsikinio decide it
Panetolikos came out more aggressively after the break and pushed for an equaliser. In the 64th minute Ortega beat Erakovits one-on-one, and in the same passage he made another strong save to stop the home striker again. Ortega said afterwards that he was there whenever the team needed him. The saves kept the score at 1-0 and gave Olympiakos time to control the match. In the 73rd minute Zota Silva squared the ball to Tsikinio, who was unmarked and finished from the edge of the area to make it 2-0.
- Rocha scores the opening goal from a rebound
- Fortounis leaves the pitch with an adductor problem
- Ortega makes two saves in one sequence against Erakovits
- Tsikinio doubles the lead after a pass from Zota Silva
Coaches, lineups and the injury
Imanol Alguacil made seven changes to the side that played Marseille and set Olympiakos up in a 4-2-3-1, with Ortega keeping goal. Giannis Anastasiou started Panetolikos in a 4-3-3, with Xenopoulos replacing the injured Koutserenko in goal. Fortounis came off in the 38th minute with discomfort in his adductor, and Zelson Martins came on in his place. Olympiakos is waiting for tests to establish how serious the problem is.
Standings after the win
The result was Olympiakos's fifth consecutive win in all competitions and its third straight in the Super League. Panetolikos suffered its fourth successive league defeat and remains on nine points. Olympiakos moved up to second place with 16 points. Panetolikos had a late chance of its own, hitting the crossbar near the final whistle, but the visitors held on to take three points from Agrinio.