Nottingham Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis was among the away fans as Olympiakos landed a huge 4-2 win over Aston Villa.
Olympiakos dealt a massive blow to Aston Villa’s hopes of winning the Europa Conference League as they claimed the win at Villa Park in the first leg of the semi-final tie.
Ayoub El Kaabi scored a hat-trick and Santiago Hezze’s deflected shot saw the Greek outfit score four with Ollie Watkins and Moussa Diaby struck for the home side.
The visitors were roared on by their incredible and vociferous away support with one end of Villa Park drowned in red and white.
And celebrating among them was Nottingham Forest owner Marinakis, who is also the president of Olympiakos.
He was spotted nearly jumping in the away end after the game finished as fans serenaded and cheered him on, high-fiving supporters and receiving hugs.
It is not difficult to see why there was such the Greek fans were so pleased, as well, after a masterful display against Unai Emery’s men.
The Super League side raced into a two-goal lead through El Kaabi, who completed his hat-trick after Villa pulled it back to 2-2 through Watkins and Diaby.
Hezze then delivered a killer blow late into the contest when his shot deflected off Ezri Konsa to wrong-foot Robin Olsen before Douglas Luiz hit the post from a penalty.
It gives Villa an almighty hill to climb when they travel to Piraeus, whose manager Jose Luis Mendilibar is another Basque manager to have won the Europa League with Sevilla, just like Emery.
The Villa manager was unhappy with his side after the first-leg loss, though he praised Olympiakos by saying: “Congratulations to them.
“We didn’t play like we are playing. We need to keep being consistent. They deserved to win. They are a good team. They have experience.
“It’s not about luck. We didn’t play well. We have to play better. They deserved to win.”
Villa face Brighton on Sunday as they continue battling to stay in the top four, though Chelsea handed them a boost with victory over fifth-placed Tottenham on Thursday night.
Olympiakos, meanwhile, have the weekend off with their league campaign concluded and into its playoff phase, as Emery told his players: “Prepare for the match next Thursday. Try to play better, compete better.”
News Summary:
- Nottingham Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis seen celebrating with Olympiakos fans at Aston Villa’s ground
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