Panathinaikos were the absolute rulers of the derby against Olympiacos and celebrated a great victory in the home of their “eternal” rival! Rafa Benítez’s Greens executed their plan perfectly, played with Panathinaikos spirit from the first to the last second, and prevailed 1–0 thanks to the golden goal of Vicente Taborda, who scored for the third time in the team’s last four matches.
Rafa Benítez’s players entered the pitch with great passion and remarkable tactical discipline, and they managed to score with the very first chance they created. In the 7th minute, Taborda made a wonderful dribble, combined beautifully with Tetteh, received the ball again inside the box and calmly finished through Tzolakis’ legs for 0–1.
Despite Olympiacos’ efforts to become threatening until the end of the first half, they failed, as the Greens were extremely effective defensively and very dangerous on the counterattack. They came very close to scoring a second goal in the 31st minute with a header by Tetteh after a move by Andino, and again in the 38th minute when the Panathinaikos international striker, after a fine combination with Taborda, found himself one-on-one with Tzolakis but was brought down inside the box by Ortega before he could shoot.
The start of the second half had a similar picture, with Panathinaikos players dominating the duels, and again the Greens came close to scoring. In the 62nd minute, Andino made an excellent individual effort and struck a powerful volley, forcing Tzolakis into a difficult save.
In the 70th minute, Rafa Benítez made his first substitutions, introducing Zaroury and Swiderski in place of Taborda and Tetteh. Olympiacos threatened for the first time in the 76th minute with a shot by Clayton, but only after a clear attacking foul by Taremi on Ingason. The hosts missed their first big chance in the 78th minute when Gelson Martins shot from one meter in front of an empty goal but sent the ball over the bar.
In the very next minute (79’), Panathinaikos responded with a huge chance of their own when Zaroury delivered a parallel pass, but Pantelidis’ finish — with Tzolakis already beaten — went just wide of the left post. In the 80th minute, the ball ended up in Olympiacos’ net from a Pantelidis shot, but the goal was disallowed for offside.
In the remaining time, Panathinaikos players did their job perfectly. They kept possession, neutralized every attacking attempt by the Reds, and safely secured a very important victory.
Olympiacos: Tzolakis, Costinha (46’ Gelson Martins), Ortega, Retsos, Biancone (85’ Yazici), Hezze (85’ Mouzakitis), Scipioni (64’ Chiquinho), Podence, Rodinei, Taremi, El Kaabi (64’ Clayton).
Panathinaikos: Lafont, Ingason, Jedvaj, Palmer-Brown, Calabria (87’ Kotsiras), Kyriakopoulos, Kontouris (87’ Vilhena), Siopis, Taborda (70’ Zaroury), Andino (77’ Pantelidis), Tetteh (70’ Swiderski).
