Evangelos Marinakis, the owner of Nottingham Forest and Olympiacos, seldom gets to witness his Greek team play in England, but such was the case on Thursday night.
Olympiacos travelled to the Midlands to face Aston Villa in the opening leg of the Europa Conference League semi-final at Villa Park. Villa entered the game as favourites, but Olympiacos took the lead into next week’s second leg.
Ayoub El Kaabi’s goals placed the Greeks ahead 2-0 in the first half, but Ollie Watkins reduced the gap immediately before halftime. Villa believed they had sealed their comeback in the second half when Moussa Diaby slotted the ball in from a tight angle.
But Olympiacos didn’t stop there. El Kaabi accomplished his hat trick from the penalty spot in the 56th minute, before Antiago Hezze extended the team’s lead. To make matters worse for Villa, Douglas Luiz missed a second-half penalty.
As a result, Villa must now score three unanswered goals away from home in order to advance to the competition’s final without the necessity for another penalty shootout. The travelling fans were overjoyed with Olympiacos’ victory.
After the final whistle, Marinakis joined in on the festivities. In a clip obtained by TNT Sports, the Forest owner went right up to the travelling fans in the away end and gave high fives and hugs before making his way back across the pitch.
The fact that Forest and Olympiacos share an owner indicates a link. Full-back Omar Richards is on loan from the Reds and came on as a second-half substitute at Villa Park; former Forest player Joao Carvalho was also an unused substitute for the game, having joined the club from the City Ground in 2022.
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