Olympiakos triumphs against Montpellier
Olympiakos collected maximum points from its two games against French champion Montpellier in the Champions League as it beat its visitor 3-1 on Tuesday after winning 2-1 in France two weeks ago, too, to increase its chances of making the knock-out stages.
Olympiakos thoroughly deservedly this triumph given its performance in the second half, and particularly after Montpellier?s equalizer.
The Reds led from the start through a Paulo Machado goal in the fourth minute, as he got the rebound from a shot by Costas Mitroglou that hit the upright ? although Mitroglou was on an offside position.
The first half ended 1-0 as the Greek team was rather reluctant to create chances for a second goal and the French club seemed unable to break down the Greek defense.
The second half was very different, with Montpellier putting pressure on the Roy Carroll goal and earning a penalty that Younes Belhanda converted to equalize in the 66th minute.
That signaled Olympiakos?s counter attack, as it grabbed Montpellier by the neck and scored twice within two minutes, first by Leandro Greco who made the most of a poor Montpellier clearance to find the net from 12 meters away, and then by Mitroglou who slotted the ball in after a pinpoint cross from the left by Jose Holebas.
With the score at 3-1 in the 82nd minute, the French could not harbor much hope of another comeback and surrendered to their conquerors, who now have six points from four games.
The next match for Olympiakos is in three weeks? time at Schalke.
