The Greek champions Olympiacos disappointed fans after a rather bad performance in Kiev, which resulted in a 2-0 defeat to Dnipro in Kiev, for the first leg in the Round of 32 of the Europa League.
The Reds had a somewhat sluggish start to the game and was unable to establish their domination on the pitch, with right winger Matthieu Dossevi being the most active for his side, while Brazilian forward Matheus stood out for Dnipro.
After a rather lackluster first half which saw both teams at a stalemate, the Ukrainian side managed to score two goals within five minutes early on in the second half. At first Georgian midfielder Jaba Kankava scored a goal after his shot was deflected off Olympiacos defender Felipe Santana (50’).
A few minutes later team captain Ruslan Rotan (54’) caught the Greek defense by surprise and put his side up by two goals early on and firmly in control of the game. Olympiacos attempted to strike back, Vitor Pereira’s team was unable to overcome the shock and the Ukrainian defensive line.
Olympiacos had the opportunity to make things easier for the second match with a goal by Kostas Mitroglou in the dying moments of the game, but unfortunately is was cancelled due to an offensive foul by the international Greek forward. Olympiacos will have a difficult task of overturning the result to progress to the next round, but before that the Greek champions will face arch-rivals Panathinaikos in Athens on Sunday.
