Saliakas and Carmo Score as Olympiacos Win 2-0 at Marko in the Greek Cup

By Taki Panos

October 28 is OXI Day in Greece, a morning of parades, flags and school marches, and Olympiacos marked the holiday afternoon with a tidy bit of work in East Attica. The Piraeus club beat Marko 2-0 away on Wednesday, October 28, 2026, in round four of the Greek Cup league phase, with defenders Manolis Saliakas and David Carmo scoring the goals, as Gazzetta, Novasports and Ta Nea all reported. That makes it three wins from three in the competition.

If the new cup format is unfamiliar, here is the short version: the Greek Cup now opens with a league phase in which the clubs are ranked in one table, with the top sides heading toward the knockout rounds. Olympiacos arrived in excellent form, three days after a 5-0 rout of Kalamata. The question was whether a changed line-up could keep the rhythm going on a holiday afternoon.

Marko, the club from Markopoulo in the Mesogeia area east of Athens, had a very familiar face up front. Youssef El Arabi, who played 225 games for Olympiacos according to Novasports, lined up against his former club for the first time, as Gazzetta noted. On the Olympiacos side, Popovic was in goal, Gelson Martins, Marius, Puerta and Hezze all started alongside youngsters Filis and Toufakis, and Bailey and Yaremchuk began on the bench, per the match reports from Gazzetta and Novasports.

The opener came in the 15th minute. After a ball into the box that Marko failed to clear properly, young midfielder Filis calmly laid it back to Saliakas, and the Greek full-back drove a low right-footed shot into the net, as Gazzetta, Novasports and Ta Nea described it. It was the second goal of Saliakas's Olympiacos career, per Gazzetta and Novasports, and Novasports added that it was a first assist for Filis. A nice goal for a defender, and a nice boost for a young midfielder.

Marko were not there just to make up the numbers. In the 24th minute, El Arabi pounced on a defensive mistake and found himself one on one with the goalkeeper, but Popovic made the save, as Gazzetta, Novasports and Ta Nea reported. Filis then tried his luck from distance in the 34th minute, with the ball going just wide. Olympiacos had about 80 percent of the ball in the first half, according to Novasports, and went in 1-0 up.

The hosts came out of the break with real energy. Their best chance arrived in the 55th minute. Popovic made the save, the ball hit the post, and Carmo got his head to it to keep it out before Marko could pounce, as Gazzetta, Novasports and Ta Nea all described. That one moment probably decided the afternoon more than any other.

Four minutes later came a lovely scene. El Arabi was substituted in the 59th minute and was applauded by both sets of fans on his way off, per Novasports. Olympiacos made changes of their own in the 61st minute, sending on Bailey and Yaremchuk for Gelson Martins and Marius, per both Gazzetta and Novasports. Toufakis then missed a good chance to double the lead a couple of minutes later, after a clever pass from Puerta, according to Novasports and Gazzetta.

The second goal came from a set piece. In the 71st minute, Puerta swung in a corner from the left and Carmo rose above everyone to head it into the net for 2-0, as all three outlets reported. Novasports noted that it was Carmo's second goal for the club, a well-earned reward after his clearance earlier in the half. Late on, Bakoulas came on for Filis, and Scipioni and veteran Kostas Fortounis replaced Hezze and Puerta in the 87th minute, per Gazzetta and Novasports.

Ta Nea's verdict was that Olympiacos won in cruise mode, and that feels fair. Gazzetta singled out the young pair of Toufakis and Filis for a strong showing, which matters on a day when Bailey and Yaremchuk started on the bench. Olympiacos controlled the ball for long spells, kept their shape after the second goal and saw the game out calmly in Markopoulo, with a clean sheet to show for it.

The bigger picture is very bright. This was an eighth straight win in all competitions for Olympiacos, as Gazzetta, Novasports and Ta Nea all noted, a run that includes a third straight Europa League win against Sparta Prague. Olympiacos stayed top of the cup league phase table, per Gazzetta, and Ta Nea wrote that they now hold a strong position in the race for a direct quarterfinal place. AEK and Panathinaikos, both on six points before today, were still due to play later this evening.

My take: this is exactly the kind of game big clubs lose in cup competitions. A holiday kickoff, a small ground, a former hero in the other shirt and a rotated line-up are all ingredients for an upset. Olympiacos were not spectacular, and Marko deserve credit for two real chances, but the best teams win games like this without fuss. Two goals from defenders and a goal-line clearance from one of them says plenty about this squad's spirit.

Next up is a return to Super League action at Kifisia on Saturday, October 31, per Novasports. If you are flying into Athens, Markopoulo sits right next to the airport, and our Athens guide has ideas for the rest of your trip. To follow Olympiacos and every other Greek club this season, keep an eye on our Greek Sports section. Eight in a row, and counting.

Sources: Gazzetta, Novasports, Ta Nea.

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