Ayoub El Kaabi struck four minutes from the end of extra time as Olympiakos beat Fiorentina in the Europa Conference League final to become the first Greek club side to win a European trophy.
The Moroccan striker, hero of Olympiakos'
run to the final, stooped low to head in Santiago Hezze's cross and spark
pandemonium in the AEK Arena in Athens.
A lengthy video assistant referee check
confirmed El Kaabi's 11th goal of the competition and their place in Greek
footballing history.
It is a second year of dramatic heartbreak
for Fiorentina after the Italian side were beaten by West Ham in last season's
final thanks to Jarrod Bowen's late goal.
Olympiakos flew out of the blocks as they
attempted to reward their ferocious support, who had travelled the short
distance from Piraeus to the home of their rivals AEK in northern Athens.
It was only the second time a Greek team
had reached a European final while Fiorentina were playing in their sixth.
Both sides traded blows in a first half
that promised goalmouth action but resulted in few clear chances.
On-loan Wolves midfielder Daniel Podence
forced Fiorentina goalkeeper Pietro Terracciano into a fine save down his left
in the opening three minutes.
Giacomo Bonaventura should have given
Fiorentina the lead but his tentative effort in the box safely dropped into
Konstantinos Tzolakis’ arms.
The Italians put together the best move of
the night in the second half as right-back Dodo surged forward and found
Christian Kouame in space inside the box but his poor contact on the ball
allowed Tzolakis to claw it clear.
Extra time was needed it was El Kaabi - who
scored five goals in the semi-finals against Aston Villa - who rose to the
occasion again.
Brief History for Greek football
Olympiakos thrashed Unai Emery's fancied
Villa side 6-2 on aggregate in the semi-finals but they still came into this
game as underdogs against a Fiorentina team looking to right the wrongs of last
season.
Panathinaikos were the only previous Greek
team to feature in a European final, when they were beaten by Ajax in the 1971
European Cup final at Wembley.
As the game wore on, and chances became
scarce, it looked like both sides would be happy to chance their luck in a
penalty shootout.
But the Greek side committed men forward in
a late attack and the 30-year-old El Kaabi - whose career has taken him from
Morocco to China, Turkey, Qatar and now Greece - was in the right place to
write his name in Olympiakos
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