El Kaabi’s brace ends Aston Villa comeback hopes at Olympiacos
HOPES DASHED: Ayoub El Kaabi of Olympiakos celebrates scoring his second goal. Pic: Milos Bicanski/Getty Images
Aston Villa’s 54th game of a gruelling season, and their 14th in the Europa Conference League alone, ended with the last English team going out of European competition in 2023-24.
Almost certain qualification for next season’s Champions League will be some consolation to Unai Emery’s men and the club’s fans but it did not feel that way as the final whistle went at the end of the semi-final second leg in Piraeus last night.
Villa had put in a strong effort that many did not think their overstretched squad had in them after their tired performance at Brighton on Sunday, but could not find the cutting edge to overturn a 4-2 first-leg deficit. They had the majority of the possession, but mostly in front of a well-drilled and confident Olympiakos defence that was never severely tested.
Morocco striker Ayoub El Kaabi, who scored a hat-trick in his side’s 4-2 win at Villa Park in the first leg, put the home side ahead after only ten minutes and added his fifth goal of the tie after a lengthy VAR investigation ten minutes from time - his 14th goal in Europe this season and his 32nd in all competitions.
So Olympiakos, fourth in the Greek Super League but experienced European campaigners, went through to their first European final to face last season’s runners-up Fiorentina, although it may not feel as ground-breaking as it might, being staged at the nearby Agia Sophia Stadium, the home of AEK Athens.
The fact that three untried teenagers were on the Villa bench illustrated how injuries have affected them. But there were few signs of exhaustion as they went in search of an early goal that might have unnerved the home side.
In the fourth minute it seemed they might get it as Ollie Watkins rose to meet a cross from the left, only to find that David Carmo, the Angola central defender, had read the situation and got his head in the way.
Committing men forward, the visitors seemed to be staking everything on gaining an early foothold but it backfired as Olympiakos broke away to take the lead.
Daniel Podence, on loan from Wolverhampton Wanderers, picked up a half-clearance and fed the overlapping Quini as Matty Cash spotted the danger too late. The left back’s low cross eluded a full-stretch Pau Torres and ran on for El Kaabi, unmarked, to prod into the net.
Three goals down on aggregate, Villa could have been forgiven for thinking of cutting losses and conserving energy with an eye on Monday’s home game against Liverpool. But there was no evidence of that on the pitch and they had no alternative in the context of the tie but to go back on the attack.
However, Olympiakos were quite happy to pull numbers back when required. Efforts from Watkins and Moussa Diaby thudded into a wall of defenders, and although Lucas Digne was finding plenty of space in an attacking position on the left, Leon Bailey could not get enough power behind a header from one of his crosses.
Bailey was in the wars when Olympiakos right back Rodinei clattered into him on the edge of the penalty area but Douglas Luiz’s effort from the resulting free kick drifted harmlessly over the crossbar.
What Villa had to avoid was conceding again and Martinez had to save full-length to his left after the ball was given away and home captain Konstantinos Fortounis hit a piledriver towards the bottom corner from 22 yards.
Up the field they went again in search of a goal before half time, forcing the entire home side back into their own penalty area, and Bailey sought to find his way past the packed defence with a shot from distance. It was hard and true, but Tzolakis was equal to it.
Bailey got the ball onto Watkins’ head early in the second half but his effort was high, and the tie might have been over just short of the hour as El Kaabi was sent clear but tried to find Santiago Hezze in front of an empty net only to overhit his shot.
The second goal did come though, but it took VAR an age to decide that Ezri Konsa’s heel had kept El Kaabi onside as he ran onto a long pass from Tzolakis and fired past Martinez.
: Tzolakis 7; Rodinei 6, Retsos 6, David Carmo 7, Quini 7 Apostolopoulos 77); Iborra 8 (Horta 74), Hezze 7, Chiquinho 6; Fortounis 7, El Kaabi 6, Podence 7 (Masouras 63).
Paschalakis, Papadoudis, El-Arabi, Alexandropoulos, Joao Carvalho, Jovetic, Prekates, Ntoi.
: Rodinei, Podence, Quini.
: Martinez 7; Konsa 6, Diego Carlos 6 (Iroegbunam 65), Torres 5, Digne 6 (Kellyman 87); McGinn 7, Luiz 6; Cash 6 (Kesler-Hayden 87), Bailey 7 (Munroe 87), Diaby 6 (Duran 58); Watkins 5.
Gauci, Olsen, Lenglet, Patterson, Young.
Douglas Luiz, Iroegbunam.
: Felix Zwayer (Germany)
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