A few hours after the female team of Olympiacos clinched the Greek Cup, Olympiacos’ men added a new trophy to the club’s treasury.
Olympiacos beat Vouliagmeni 9:8 in the final of the Men’s Greek Cup ( played in Larrissa as well as the Women’s Cup).
Olympiacos had a 6-goal advantage early in the fourth period, but in the middle of the quarter, Konstantinos Genidounias was excluded for brutality. Vouliagmeni benefited from that exclusion, reduced the gap, but failed to equalize.
The male team of the Piraeus-based club clinched its 23rd Greek Cup in history.
2021/22 Men’s Greek Cup, FInal Four (Larissa)
Semifinals
Ydraikos – Vouliagmeni 14:16 (3:3, 3:5, 3:1,3:3, PSO 2:4)
Ydraikos: Prekas 2, Almyra 2, Jankovic 2, Foskolos 2, Adzic 1, Hatdigoulas 1, Albertis 1, Thalassinos, Kokinakis 1.
Vouliagmeni: Gkiouvetsis 3, Kalogeropoulos 3, Kapotsis 2, Mylonakis 1, Troulos 1, Paparic 1, Lozina 1, Halyvopoulos 1.
Olympiacos – AEK 6:3 (2:1, 0:1, 3:0, 1:1)
Olympiaccos: Buslje 3, Grammatikos 1, Fountoulis 1, Filipovic 1.
AEK: Vukcevic 1, Krigestoras 1, Iliopoulos 1.
Strong defense, commanded by Emmanouil Zerdevas, was a key for Olympiacos’ victory over AEK in The semifinals. Last year, these two teams met in the final of the Greek Cup and Olympiacos ran over AEK (20:4). But the match in Larrissa was something completely different. AEK fought hard and marked Olympiacos’ best scorers very well. However, experienced defender Andro Buslje netted three goals and made the difference. Buslje’s fellow countryman – Croatia’s goalkeeper Marko Bijac didn’t play in Larissa.
The encounter between Ydraikos and Vouliagmeni was a real thriller. Vouliagmeni emerged as a winner after a penalty shootout.
Final
Olympiacos – Vouliagmeni 9:8 (1:0, 3:2, 3:1, 2:5)
Olympiacos: Filipovic 4, Genidounias 1, Fountoulis 1, Buslje 1, Kolomvos 1, Chrysospathis 1.
Vouliagmeni: Kalogeropoulos 3, Kapotsis 3, Mylonakis 1, Gkiouvetsis 1.
Olympiacos dominated for most of the final game, but the match entered a thrilling finish. Vouliagmeni started coming back, and it was very close to securing a penalty shootout, but Olympiacos recorded a narrow win in the regular time.
Olympiacos’ defense was excellent for more than three quarters. . The red-whites earned a 3:0 lead before Vouliagmeni scored its first goal, which happened in the 11th minute. At halftime, Olympiacos led 4:2 and doubled the advantage (7:3) before the final period.
Olympiacos opened the fourth quarter with two goals. Chrysopathis made it 8:3 in the 26th minute. A minute after, the best scorer, Filip Filipovic, found the net from a distance, added the fourth goal to his tally and stretched the margin to six (9:3). It seemed that everything was decided. But, Vouliagmeni started climbing back. Shortly after Filipovic’s fourth goal, Kapotsis scored for 4:9.
Four minutes and 26 seconds before the end, Olympiacos’ Konstantinos Genidounias punched Kalogeropoulos. He was red-carded for and the “red-whites” played with a man fewer in the water in the following four minutes. Vouliagmeni scored four unanswered goals in that interval.
Kapotsis converted a penalty shot for 8:9 with 47 seconds left on the clock. In the last 20 seconds, Vouliagmeni set up a 7 on 6 (goalkeeper Georgatos joined his teammates in offense). Georgatos made the final shot, but he failed to score, and Olympiacos won its 23rd Greek Cup.
Olympiacos goalkeeper Emmanouil Zerdevas was voted the MVP of the tournament.
Photo by Olympiacos SFP
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