Carroll took the place in the goal, Cholevas, strong and fit, made his return on the left, and Manolas with Contreras were the stoppers.Leonardo Jardim opted for Maniatis as his right defender, while Greco was in the midfield, next to Modesto, and Machado completed the line. Fuster was playing wide from the right, Abdoun on the left and Djebbour took over as our striker.
In the first part of the game, Olympiacos did exactly what they always try to do: Keeping control of the match and bringing the action in Xanthi’s half of the pitch. The “red and whites” were trying to net and they made it on 37 minutes, Manolas being the scorer! Machado clipped a free-kick from the left and the Greek center-back turned it in, 1-0, with a beautiful header!
On 48’, Djebbour was unlucky enough to see the ball, following his smooth touch, passing just off Viviani’s post; in 49 minutes Fuster launched a shot which was saved by the post! Right after that, on 51, the score was improved to 2-0! Cholevas broke forward beautifully from the right and took a clever shot that landed deep in the corner of powerless-to-react Viviani’s goal!
In 54, Cholevas delivered a free kick from the right and Rafik Djebbour, at the far post, tapped the ball in turning the match into a celebrating 3-0. The easiness of Olympiacos to reach Xanthi’s box was more than obvious in 63’, when it took only one pass for the ball to reach Fuster. He left it to Djebbour and the Algerian striker tapped the ball and, before the ball reached the ground, blasted Viviani’s net in pieces with an inconceivable turning shot, taking his side to 4-0.
So, the encounter ended with Olympiakos securing its seventh win (4-0) in seven Super League matches; the side topped 21 points in the table and is now looking forward to facing, coming Wednesday, Montpellier in France.
OLYMPIACOS: Carroll, Maniatis, Modesto, Machado(70’ Mitroglou), Djebbour(79’ Vlachodimos), Fuster, Cholevas(70’ Torosodis), Manolas, Greco, Abdoun, Contreras
SKODA XANTHI:Vivani, Markovski(83΄Ranos), Marcelinio, Vasilakakis, Platellas(46’ Marin), Mantalos(69’ Triadis), Fliskas, Komesidis, Vallas, Ricardo, Cazumba.
