Champions League: Olympiacos qualifies to next round

Greek reigning football champions Olympiacos have qualified to the next round in the UEFA Champions League after beating Anderlecht 3-1 at the Karaiskakis Stadium in Piraeus for the last game of the group stage. The goals were scored by Saviola (33’, 58’) and Dominguez (pen. 90’+5) for Olympiacos, while Kljestan (39’) scored the equalized for the Belgian team.

Olympiacos dominated the game from the start but were unable to take advantage of their ball possession. Saviola missed a superb opportunity to score in 32^nd minute of the match, for which he made up a minute later with a curved shot. The elation on the Olympiacos bench was short-lived though, as Kljestan scored an equalizer a few minutes later.

The pressure started to mount of the Reds in the second and things started to look up when Saviola and Kouyaté was sent off with a second yellow card for handball at the 49^th minute of the game. Belgian goalkeeper Proto was on top form though and blocked Saviola’s penalty kick, keeping both teams tied. As with the first half though, Saviola “made up” and scored a second goal almost ten minutes later.

With his team one man up and one goal ahead, Olympiacos coach Michel substituted Machado in the midfield for Slovak winger Weiss, who earned a second penalty for his team at 72^nd minute. However Proto managed to block Weiss’ penalty shot, encouraging his team mates to put the pressure on Olympiacos.

The final minutes of the game were nightmarish for the Belgian team, which saw a second player, defender N’Sakala, sent off with a second yellow card at the 88^th minute of the match, while goalkeeper Proto was sent off in the dying moments of the game with a direct red card. This time midfielder Dominguez took the penalty shot and scored against striker Mitrovic, who stood in as the goalie for the final minutes of the game.

The draw for the next round in the Champions League is on Monday.