PSV failed to win the important match against Olympiakos. The Champions League match in Piraeus ended 1-1. PSV started the match very weakly and barely managed to break through the Greek wall. It stretched until the last minute, when Ricardo Pepi scored the equalizer via a free kick and still had the 1,600 PSV fans present cheering.
The task for PSV was clear in advance: win. Then a chance of the next round would increase significantly. That started well, when PSV seemed to take the lead in the 11th minute. Ismael Saibari gave the final touch, but was offside. The first goal came in the 17th minute. After a successful attack on Olympiakos’ side, the Portuguese right winger Gelson Martins is the final stop. He hit the ball into the short corner behind Matej Kovar and so PSV had to get to work.
Singing very loudly
The Eindhoven team then got the ball into the enemy sixteen, but a Greek defender was ready to steal the ball away. Furthermore, it was mainly Olympiacos that insisted. And the Greek fans started singing louder and louder. So loud that you could no longer hear the neighbor in the stands.
Even when Peter Bosz’s team did have the ball in the opponent’s half, a blistering whistle concert sounded from the stands. The ‘witch’s cauldron’, as it was described in advance, lived up to its name.
The first half
Things were not good on PSV’s side in the first half. Strongmen like Sergiño Dest and Mauro Júnior were very sloppy, while we are used to that. The team, which was in such good shape, did not score a single shot on target in the first act. And goalkeeper Kovar had to intervene again to prevent the 0-2.
The second half
PSV seemed to recover in the second half. It started a lot sharper, except at the front, which meant that the first big chance did not materialize. The Greeks had more luck, until goalscorer Gelson Martins’ volley hit the crossbar.
Peter Bosz hoped to revive the situation by exchanging Guus Til and Dennis Man for Ricardo Pepi and Couhaib Driouech. With success.
More chances came on both sides and in minute 77 it was Couhaib Driouech who finally scored the first shot on target, but it was easily saved by the goalkeeper of the Greek champions. PSV pushed a bit more in the final minutes and eventually got what it was looking for.
A free kick from Joey Veerman in the 93rd minute ended up being deflected by Ricardo Pepi, who made the liberating 1-1 and finally made the 1,600 fans who traveled along cheer.
What now?
This draw brings PSV to five points from four games in the Champions League. For the people of Eindhoven, reaching the next round seems like quite a job.
With four games to go, PSV still needs to get at least five points to be sure of the next round. But preferably six. And the remaining opponents are not the least: Liverpool, Atlético Madrid, Bayern Munich and Newcastle United. But nothing in impossible. This was also evident earlier in the match against Napoli.