Merciless Newcastle United ruins the hoped-for party night for Olympiakos

On 80th birthday, nine-man Piraeus team suffers 3-1 loss in UEFA Cup fourth round

Spanish referee Arturo Dauden Ibanez shocked birthday club Olympiakos early during its 80th anniversary celebration last night by sending off defender Grigoris Georgatos just 11 minutes into the game and awarding Newcastle United a penalty kick that was converted. The Greek team was later reduced to nine men when, just before the break, Thanassis Kostoulas was shown a second yellow card. Newcastle United’s 3-1 win gives the English club a seemingly invincible lead ahead of next week’s return leg at home.

Looking to celebrate last night’s birthday bash in style, a nine-man Olympiakos, which turned 80, suffered a humiliating 3-1 defeat at its packed 33,000-capacity Karaiskaki Stadium against Newcastle United in a first-leg, fourth-round UEFA Cup tie that leaves the Greek club with little to hope for when the sides meet again next Wednesday.

The party for the historic Greek club, one of the country’s two biggest, began to lose its beat early on. Spanish referee Arturo Dauden Ibanez quickly showed Grigoris Georgatos a red card in the 11th minute for a questionable shoulder-to-shoulder challenge by the Olympiakos defender on England midfielder Kieron Dyer as he sought the airbound ball following a shot saved by keeper Antonis Nikopolidis. A penalty kick was also awarded. Moments later, Newcastle United’s favorite son and team captain Alan Shearer made no mistake from the spot with a powerful strike to top left that sent the birthday club reeling.

Obviously stunned but showing resilience with a man less, the home team struck back just minutes later when the referee pointed to the penalty spot again after midfielder Ieroklis Stoltidis was brought down by Andy O’Brien. The Ireland defender was cautioned with a yellow card for shirt-tugging and, on 15 minutes, midfielder Predrag Djordjevic set the party alight again by drilling his penalty kick home for a 1-1 score.

The in-form visitors, seeking their sixth consecutive victory, almost went ahead again two minutes later when Shearer connected superbly with a corner from the left by Laurent Robert. But defender Dimitris Mavrogenidis, one of his team’s most defiant performers throughout the night, displayed miraculous reflexes to head off the line.

Full back Stephen Carr became the second Newcastle United to enter the referee’s book in eight minutes. He was shown the yellow card in the 22nd minute for a foul on Djordjevic. The bookings stopped there for the English club but not for Olympiakos, which was reduced to nine men after defender Thanassis Kostoulas was shown the yellow card twice, in the 24th and 44th minutes, for an early end to his night out.

By that stage, the home team’s party had already derailed. Prior to Kostoulas’s departure, Newcastle United regained the lead when, in the 34th minute, French midfielder Robert curled a superb free kick around Olympiakos’s wall from 20 meters out to leave keeper Nikopolidis stranded. Two minutes later, Djordjevic came close to equalizing, but his shot from the left went wide.

By this point, though, Newcastle United, a UEFA Cup semifinalist a year ago with an undefeated record in the competition this season, began to take control.

The English club’s growing dominance was accentuated in the 69th minute when substitute James Milner impressively pierced his way through from the left to pull back for Dutch striker Patrick Kluivert. He slotted away from 6 meters out to establish a seemingly invincible 3-1 lead ahead of next week’s return leg in Newcastle.

“We still have a job to do back in England,” Newcastle United coach Graeme Souness told reporters following the game. “Obviously Olympiakos getting two players sent off made it a very different game. We didn’t play particularly well tonight but we won 3-1.”