Leonardo Jardim made no changes to his side formation, but opted for new players in the pitch with respect to the match against OFI, as expected.
Carroll protected the goal, Torosidis made his return defending on the right, Cholevas on the left and Manolas with Siovas slotted as stoppers.
Modesto was first midfielder before the defensive line, with Maniatis and Machado on his right and left respectively, standing for the midfield “trio”.
Abdoun took on as the right winger and Greco on the left, with Mitroglou striking at the top.
No later than the 4 minute and Olympiacos has already achieved.. two of the side’s objectives: to get off with an early goal and to take Montpellier by surprise. It was Abdoun storming from the left, passing sharply into the six-yard box, where Mitroglou took a smooth shot, saved instinctively by Jourdren. The deflected ball arrived at incoming Machado who converted it, filling the crowd with sky-soaring enthusiasm.
Olympiacos retained control of the match, provided Montpellier with empty space and waited to counter-attach when an open path was to be found.
In the 11′, a crossing from the right by Maniatis met Mitroglou, following poor controlling by Mbiwa. Mitroglou turned and took the shot but Jourdren cleared the ball instinctively.
Olympiacos striker had another good scoring opportunity in 37′, but his shot was off target.
The first half was over, with Olympiacos showing great skill in possession, although with smaller share of it. Montpellier produced no obvious scoring chances and went to the break rightfully down by one.
In the second half, Olympiacos side had no substitutions. Rene Girard sent in Charbonnier opting for a dual-striker formation. It was just in the 47 minutes, when Machado, after scoring one, tried to register a fine “assist” by crossing neatly from the right, for Mitroglou to lose the ball for… inches, since Hilton outrun him.
In 51, Olympiacos lost another good scoring opportunity. Machado produced a superb through-pass to Abdoun, who turned it from the left to Mitroglou. The latter missed the scoring tap on the ball for a few centimeters, failing thus to give a 2-0 lead.
In 54’, referee Strahonja declined a clear penalty call for Mitroglou, following a slide tackle by Montpellier goalkeeper on Greek forward’s left foot, who was about to net it to the unprotected goal! Mounier took a good, yet off target, shot from the left in 58’. Carroll made a delivering exit in 64’ before Tinhan make his first contact with the ball from inside the Greek penalty box.
In 64’, the referee made two serious mistakes in the game! After declining a crystal-clear penalty call for Mitroglou, he “discovered” one that Siovas committed on Camara! Olympiacos defender challenged the French side’s attacker correctly. Although Carroll flung out to his right side, he couldn’t save Belhanda equalizing penalty shot, in 66’. In the very next minute, Abdoun surged for the left, crossed to Mitroglou, whose shot was poorly performed, but too quick for Machado to intervene and convert it!
In 74’, Leonardo Jardim dropped Fuster in the pitch, trying to give an offensive touch to the side’s play.
Olympiacos reacted after the French equalizer, and it was in 80΄ when Greco produced the 2-1. Following a corner by Cholevas, the Italian midfielder availed himself of the confusion in visiting side’s defense and with a close range shoe gave anew the lead to the Piraeus-based side.
However, Jardim’s players did not stop there… Two minutes later, after a beautiful crossing by Cholevas, Mitroglou finished it smoothly for the final 3-1, providing thus the “red-and-shites” with 3 points.
Olympiacos has reached 6 points, and given the draw of Schalke-Arsenal (2-2), it is two points adrift of the Germans with eight and one point of the Gunners with seven! So, all scenarios on potential qualification are open…!
OLYMPIACOS: Carroll, Torosidis, Cholevas, Siovas, Manolas, Modesto (74’ Fuster), Maniatis, Machado (87΄ Fejsa), Abdoun, Greco, Mitroglou (93΄ Lykogiannis).
MONTPELLIER: Jourdren, Bocaly, Yanga-Mbiwa, Hilton (79΄ Congre), Bedimo, Marveaux, Mounier (62’ Tinhan), Belhanda, Camara, Cabella (46’ Charbonnier), Saihi.
