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Aston Villa bowed out of the Europa Conference League after failing to overcome Olympiacos in Piraeus.
The Midlands club arrived in Greece needing to overturn a two-goal deficit having lost 4-2 at Villa Park but things went from bad to worse after Ayoub El Kaabi scored 11 minutes in to stretch his side’s lead to three goals.
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Leon Bailey and Matty Cash had Villa’s best opportunities of the first half but it appeared to be a frustrating night in front of goal.
Olympiacos were happy to sit back and absorb the pressure and they looked incredibly dangerous on the counter-attack.
Their third came from another long ball over the top, with El Kaabi beating Villa’s formidable offside trap and bearing in on goal, finishing past Emiliano Martinez with ease.
It was another impeccable performance from the Greek side who had their opponent’s number across both legs.
They will go on to face Fiorentina in the final on 29 May.
Incredible 🤩#UECL pic.twitter.com/PHNwxlxUQM
— UEFA Europa Conference League (@europacnfleague) May 9, 2024
How it happened
It was going to need a quick start from the Villa boys if they were to overturn the huge deficit and they got straight onto the front foot in the opening 10 minutes.
Ollie Watkins got on the end of a dangerous cross and looked to steer his header into the top corner but for some brilliant defending from David Carmo to nick the ball away at the last moment.
As expected, Olympiacos were opting to sit with most of their team behind the ball and hit on the counter-attack and they did exactly that 11 minutes in.
El Kaabi – who scored a hat-trick in the first leg – managed to put the ball in the net for the opener despite scuffing his strike from a Quini cross.
It was Daniel Podence on loan from…
Source link : https://www.101greatgoals.com/news/olympiacos-2-0-aston-villa-el-kaabi-stars-again-europa-conference-league/
Author : Mitch Fretton
Publish date : 2024-05-09 21:11:20
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