THEY came, they camped in their own half and although they battled bravely, Olympiakos got just what they deserved from their Champions League trip to north London on September 29 against Arsenal - absolutely nothing.
It is common knowledge that on their day, Arsenal are an irresistible attacking force and so it proved to be as the Gunners, despite being held for 78 minutes during a constant bombardment of Antonis Nikopolidis’ goal, in the end secured a 2-0 victory to cement their place at the top of Group H.
The match would not have been comfortable viewing for any Olympiakos fan and, if not for embattled goalkeeper Nikopolidis, the result could easily have been a rout to rival Olympiakos’ infamous 7-0 defeat in the Champions League when Juventus ran riot in Turin back in 2003.
It was always going to be an exercise in damage limitation at the Emirates with Zico’s pre-match quotes admitting as much by urging his team to “be brave” against one of European football’s most attack-minded teams.
Brave as Olympiakos may have been, however, with veteran goalkeeper Nikopolidis epitomising the effort, they could not keep out Arsenal’s strikers, with both Robin van Persie and livewire Russian forward Andrei Arshavin scoring the goals late on to condemn Zico and his players to their first defeat.
For so long it seemed Nikopolidis, 38, would keep Arsenal at bay after putting in the kind of vintage display which helped make Greece European Champions back in that crazy Portuguese summer of 2004.
The veteran shot stopper, noted for his striking resemblance to Hollywood heart-throb George Clooney, produced save after save with Van Persie, Arshavin, Tomas Rosicky, Cesc Fabregas twice, William Gallas and Abou Dialby all denied before his resistance was broken with 12 minutes left.
Naturally, it was Nikopolidis who received the plaudits, which were lead by Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger. “Nikopolidis was not simply good, but he was exceptional,” said the Frenchman. “You can understand why he played for the national team for so many years.”
Olympiakos defender Olof Mellberg, who had one of the busiest shifts of his career, also lauded his teammate. “It was a night when the whole team needed to play as Antonis did,” commented the Swede. “He kept the scores at 0-0 for so long and if we could have played with the same intensity then perhaps we could have come away with something better.
“We are still second in the group though and now we have to concentrate on challenging for the second qualification spot along with Alkmaar and Standard Liege.”
A total of 22 shots to 6 in favour of Arsenal by the final whistle told its own story of the match.
To be fair on Olympiakos, however, they were shorn of two of their most important players in Luciano Galletti and Enzo Maresca, with English striker Matt Derbyshire also missing due to troublesome stomach and groin problems.
The sooner those players get back the better in terms of the Pireaus club’s chances of competing with Europe’s big guns.
It’s not all bad news for Reds supporters though. Olympiakos remain second in the group due to the fact that AZ Alkmaar, who Olympiakos defeated 1-0 in their opening match, could only draw 1-1 with Standard Liege - a team Olympiakos will be hopeful of beating when the Belgians come to Athens on October 20.
Zico cited tiredness as the reason for the late surrender.
“We wanted to leave here with a better result but Arsenal are a very strong team, one of the best in the Champions League,” said the Brazil legend.
“It’s our fifth match in 15 days and this influenced things especially in the last 10-15 minutes. We have a lot of injuries and the players were tired. I believe that within two months we can play better.”
Panathinaikos lead pack
While Olympiakos are Greece’s leading light in Europe, Panathinaikos continue to lead the way in the Super League after the Greens moved back to the top of the table thanks to a 1-0 win over AEK Athens in a fiercely-contested Athens derby on Sunday, 27 September.
Greece international striker Dimitris Salpigidis, still to sign a new contract with the club, was preferred ahead of France striker Djibril Cisse and rifled home the crucial goal after 48 minutes to clinch all three points for Henk ten Cate’s team.
The result maintains Pana’s 100 percent league record with five straight victories and moves the Greens two points clear of titleholders Olympiakos, who had moved top following their 1-0 home win over Panionios on Saturday, September 26.
Recently appointed Olympiakos coach Zico enjoyed a victory on his home debut on the Reds’ bench thanks to Jaouad Zairi’s 18th-minute strike.
Aris are in fourth spot following their 1-0 win over Xanthi courtesy of Sebastian Abreu’s last-gasp goal in injury time.
