The two teams were playing in the semi-finals of the Europa Conference League
Aston Villa’s aspirations to make it to the Europa Conference League final took a serious blow after they were smashed by Olympiacos. The Greek side dominated Villa in a first leg match that ended with a score-line of 4-2. This loss means that Villa will have the second leg game or they will be dumped out in the semi-final stage of the competition.
Jamaica’s Leon Bailey was involved in the match but he failed to deliver another masterclass performance.
Olympiacos took the lead when El Kaabi finished an easy opportunity in the 16th minute. El Kaabi’s goal was well-taken but the Aston Villa defenders totally fell asleep and awarded him the goal on a silver platter. Aston Villa coach Unai Emery was seen fuming at Ezri Konsa and Clément Lenglet’s terrible defending.
It wasn’t long before El Kaabi added a second goal in the 29th minute. El Kaabi took the ball and ran past Konsa and Lenglet before finishing into an empty net. This was another goal that could have been avoided but the Villa defenders were simply having a nightmare. Goalkeeper Robin Olsen tried to stop the shot but he was simply too slow for El Kaabi.
Olympiacos second goal must have woken up the Aston Villa players because they started attacking their opponent’s backline. Villa created several chances but their strikers were struggling to convert them. Leon Bailey was fouled in the Olympiacos box but the referee wasn’t convinced that it was a penalty.
Aston Villa were rewarded for their effort when Moussa Diaby found Ollie Watkins in the 45th minute. The English striker proceeded to finish with a simple tap-in that left the Olympiacos goalkeeper helpless.
Aston Villa continued with their upward trajectory in the second half. Leon Bailey created an opportunity that was finished off by Moussa Diaby in the 57th minute. However, the Greek team fought back and won a penalty in the 56th minute. El Kaabi stepped up and converted his third goal from the penalty spot.
Santiago Hezze put Aston Villa out of their misery by scoring a screamer in the 67th minute. This was the goal that put a nail in the Villa coffin. Leon Bailey and his teammates will be hoping to put in a better performance when these teams meet for the second leg.
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