Hezze Header Gives Olympiacos 1-0 Win at Marseille

By Taki Panos

Olympiacos went to Marseille without a single supporter of their own in the away end, and they came home with all three points anyway. Santiago Hezze headed in a Chiquinho cross three minutes before halftime, and the Piraeus club beat Olympique de Marseille 1-0 at the Stade Vélodrome on Thursday night, on Matchday 2 of the Europa League league phase, as Gazzetta reported. Quiet trip, loud result.

The build-up had very little to do with football. French authorities banned Greek supporters, then allowed them back in on the same day, and Olympiacos responded by refusing its ticket allocation and telling fans not to travel, as we covered here. The team arrived in France fresh from a 1-0 derby win over Panathinaikos, which we wrote up here. If you are new to the club, our history of Olympiacos explains why a win like this matters so much in Piraeus.

Coach Imanol Alguacil had promised no big change in approach. "We are not going to completely change our identity and our way of playing," he told reporters on the eve of the game, per ERT (translated from Greek). The first half was cagey. There was not a single shot from either side in the first 17 minutes, Flashscore noted, and the first one, a tame effort from Gelson Martins, went straight to Jeffrey de Lange. Marseille's best moment came in the 37th minute, when Stefan Ortega stretched to keep out a powerful Keyliane Abdallah shot, TA NEA wrote.

Then came the goal. Olympiacos played a short corner, Chiquinho and Gelson Martins swapped passes, and Chiquinho swung in a cross that Hezze met with a thumping header in the 42nd minute, according to in.gr. He rose above Nayef Aguerd and gave De Lange no chance, and RMC Sport pointed out it was the 24-year-old Argentine midfielder's first goal of the season. Gazzetta said he celebrated by kissing the Olympiacos badge.

Marseille were not happy about it. Himad Abdelli went down in the box as the cross came in, claiming a push from Olympiacos captain Panagiotis Retsos, but English referee Michael Oliver saw nothing wrong, RMC Sport reported, although he did book Retsos, apparently for words exchanged with Abdelli. Gazzetta said the incident was checked for a possible foul and the goal stood. In first-half stoppage time, Roman Yaremchuk put the ball in again after a mistake in the Marseille box, but the flag went up for offside, per in.gr and Flashscore.

Bruno Genesio's side came out much more aggressive after the break, and the second half turned into a test of nerves. Jota Silva had two early efforts blocked at the other end, SDNA wrote, but the pressure was mostly on Ortega's goal. Just before the hour, Retsos threw himself into a risky but well-timed sliding tackle on an Abdallah cutback, stopping what Gazzetta called a certain goal, and TA NEA singled out the same moment. Igor Paixão then shot wide from an angle. Olympiacos were hanging on, but they were organized while doing it.

This is where Ortega earned his night. Midway through the half he made a double save, first from Timothy Weah and then from Paixão on the follow-up, and a few minutes later he stopped Amine Harit as well, the AS live commentary showed. FotMob named the German goalkeeper its player of the match with a rating of 8.3, Flashscore made him its man of the match, and Gazzetta gave him its MVP award too.

Alguacil managed the closing stretch carefully. Remo Freuler came on for Gustavo Puerta and Armando González for Yaremchuk around the 66th minute, then Kostas Fortounis replaced Jota Silva and Nayair Tiknizyan replaced Bruno Onyemaechi in the early 70s, with Gustavo Sá on for Chiquinho near the end, per AS and Gazzetta's lineups. Gazzetta felt Fortounis' arrival helped Olympiacos keep the ball better. González nearly finished it late, but De Lange held on to his firm strike.

Hezze kept it simple afterwards. "We showed character in the derby in Greece, and now we showed the same strong character and took a great win," he said, as quoted by Gazzetta (translated from Greek). "We want to keep working, because we have a demanding league match and then another one in Europe. We have to keep going strong to achieve things with Olympiacos." Not a man getting carried away. Good.

For Marseille, this is turning into a rough autumn. They lost their opener 4-1 at Besiktas three weeks ago, and this was their sixth defeat of the season, with boos at the final whistle, franceinfo reported. Olympiacos, for their part, opened the league phase with a 2-1 home win over Jagiellonia, as Gazzetta and SDNA noted. One odd detail: in.gr reported that an AEK banner appeared in the stands and the AEK anthem played over the stadium speakers before kickoff, a nod to the long friendship between the two fan groups.

It was a busy Thursday for Greek football overall. Panathinaikos started their Conference League campaign by beating Borac Banja Luka 2-1 in Athens, while OFI led at Rennes through a Taxiarchis Fountas header but lost 2-1 after late goals in the 76th and 90th minutes, according to in.gr. Vangelis Pavlidis also came off the bench to score in Benfica's 4-1 win over Celtic.

My take: this was not a pretty win, and Olympiacos will not pretend it was. Marseille had more of the ball and more of the chances after halftime, and without Ortega this is probably a draw. But winning away in Europe is often about doing the small things right: a well-drilled set piece, a perfectly timed tackle, a goalkeeper who refuses to be beaten. Alguacil's team did all three, with no fans behind them, four days after a draining derby. Six points from two games puts them in a very good spot.

Next up, Olympiacos visit Panaitolikos in the Super League on Sunday, October 18, at 17:00, per Panetolikos FC. Then Sparta Prague come to the Karaiskakis on Thursday, October 22, at 22:00 Athens time for Matchday 3, Gazzetta and SDNA confirmed. For more on Olympiacos, the Greek national teams and Greek athletes around the world, keep an eye on our Greek Sports section. Empty away end, full points. Not a bad trade.

Sources: Gazzetta, in.gr, TA NEA, SDNA, Flashscore, AS, FotMob, RMC Sport, franceinfo, ERT, Panetolikos FC.

Image: Olympiacos F.C. crest, via Wikimedia Commons (CC0).