The Piraeus side dealt best with the pressure of the penalty shoot-out once again to reign supreme against Apollon Limassol and secure their place in the Europa League group stages.

Olympiacos and the Cypriot champions went the distance at “Karaiskakis” Stadium on Friday morning (AEST), finishing 1-1 (2-2 on aggregate) after 120 minutes of play, with the Greek side emerging victorious on penalties by a margin of 3-1.

The red-whites took an early lead after a mistake from the back allowed advancing left back Oleg Reabciuk to take the ball and send a grounded pass across the box to winger Giannis Masouras, who tapped it in from close range (2′).

The visitors found a 90th minute equaliser to send the match into extra time following winger Ioannis Pittas’ tap-in from just outside the goal line and the Greek champions were dealt another blow when defender Ousseynou Ba was given a red card for a poor tackle (100′).

Both sides failed to score again, sending it to penalties, and Olympiacos goalkeeper Tomas Vaclik stepped up massively for his side by making three saves, all diving to his right, to send the Piraeus club through to the main round of the Europa League.

Apollon Limassol will now go down one level and play in the Europa Conference League group stage.

 

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