Apollon Smyrni – Olympiakos 0-0: Red and white gel in Rizoupoli

Olympiacos had a difficult afternoon in Rizoupoli in their first game of 2022. In the 16th game of the Super League Interwetten, the red-whites were 0-0 against Apollon Smyrni, who withstood the pressure, with Verhulst being present when necessary.

The light brigade put an end to Olympiacos’ winning streak in the championship. The red-whites had to collect their third draw in the league, most recently on October 3rd in the derby with Panathinaikos. In the overall ranking Piraeus has 42 points and +9 from AEK. Important point for Apollo’s tail, which has eight points.

Both teams had to “struggle” with their absences, with the hosts suffering 15 defeats, some of them due to the coronavirus. Olympiacos had the upper hand for most of the game, but Apollon, and especially the goalkeeper, reacted correctly when needed.

No score in the first part

With several absenteeism, the two teams lined up on the field. Olympiacos was in its basic form Ba and Abraham Papadopoulos, while Brusai and Karbovnik also play key roles. Apollon fell victim to the corona virus, so Giannis Gianniotas, Mikhail Signevich and Nikola Jakimovski, who were announced on Tuesday (January 4th), were in the starting eleven. There were actually five players on the bench.

Expected Goals from Opta shows you each team’s overall threat, the goals they “should” score based on their finals. The larger the circle, the greater the chance. You can choose the type of attack and view the endgames of each team separately in the normal flow, from set phases, etc.

From the first minutes Olympiacos wanted to control the rhythm of the game. In the 12th minute, the red-whites lost a great chance. Mandy Kamara turned to Verhulst, but couldn’t hit him. Martins’ team was in possession of the ball and tried to get into Apollo’s penalty area, but to no avail. In the 32nd minute Bouhalakis passed Kragiopoulos on the right in the penalty area, shot, Verhulst blocked again.

At this point, Apollo also tried to make his presence felt. He missed a chance with a Fation shot into the box on 35 minutes, Masoura tried to cut him off with his foot and the referee showed continuity. The pace slowed, which pleased the hosts. Olympiacos circulated trying to find gaps between the lines of the Light Brigade.

This was not possible and the 0-0 was not achieved until the end of the first part. In fact, Apollon had a good moment in the 43rd minute with a direct foul by Jakimovski, and Vatslik was painfully sent off.

Apollo also kept up in the second part

Olympiakos went into second place with a formation change. Pedro Martins converted the formation to 4-4-2 and Tikinios overtook the field. The reds and whites were hungry, but Verhulst was there when he needed them.

In the 52nd minute he had a moment with a weak shot from Bouhalakis, four minutes later the very active Tikinios placed the Apollon goalkeeper. The Brazilian had a new moment in the 61st minute when he shot his head through the penalty area, but the Belgian goalkeeper blocked again. Valbouena had spent the same time in the field.

Olympiacos insisted on owning the property and looking for passages to defend Apollo with the Light Brigade organized in the rear. The red-whites lost a great chance in the 73rd minute. Valbouena took the cross from the right, Arabi could not send the ball into the net via contact, that went out.

Click “Actual Lineup” to see where each player’s main action area was.

Pedro Martins’ team increased their ranks to the final and tried to find their way to the home team. The great opportunity never came after the Arabi opportunity. The Portuguese coach overtook Costas Manolas and Massimiliano Lovera on the field to fail to find a solution, but the 0-0 only changed in the final.

The statistics of the game

The important facts

The Super League Interwetten table