Olympiakos FC vs Wolverhampton Wanderers. UEFA Europa League Round of 16.
Karaiskakis Stadium.
Report as Pedro Neto's goal helps Wolves come from behind to draw the away leg of their Europa League last-16 tie at Olympiakos
Friday 13 March 2020 00:02, UK
Wolves came from behind to draw 1-1 with 10-man Olympiakos in the first leg of their Europa League round of 16 tie in Athens.
Ruben Semedo's first-half sending off presented Wolves with a huge opportunity but when Youssef El Arabi opened the scoring early in the second half it looked like Olympiakos' night.
But substitute Pedro Neto's deflected shot from distance levelled things up for the Premier League side and the tie remains in the balance going into the second leg at Molineux.
The game was played out in an eerie atmosphere in Athens with no supporters permitted inside the stadium because of the situation caused by the coronavirus.
Nuno Espirito Santo had expressed his frustration that the game was even going ahead and his mood will not have been improved after a largely frustrating evening.
Wolves were content to contain in the early stages of the game but the momentum of the match appeared to change when they launched one of their trademark counter-attacks.
Raul Jimenez put Diogo Jota through one-on-one with Semedo and the Portuguese forward drew the foul from his compatriot resulting in a straight red card for the defender.
The man advantage allowed Wolves to begin to dominate possession and also appeared to nullify much of the early threat posed by the Greek side that eliminated Arsenal.
Nuno made a positive change at the interval, bringing on Pedro Neto for Matt Doherty and playing Adama Traore as a forward thinking wing-back in search of the away goal.
But instead it was Olympiakos who took the lead early in the second half with a goal against the run of play when good work from Guilherme gifted a tap in to El Arabi.
Wolves were suddenly chasing the game in desperation and when Jimenez's shot came back off the face of Jose Sa it seemed like the equaliser might not come.
But more good work by Jota earned a free-kick that Joao Moutinho played into the path of Neto and there was nothing Sa could do when the deflection on the low shot deceived him.
Nuno wanted more than the one goal and brought on Daniel Podence against the club he left in January in another attacking change as Ruben Vinagre made way.
But the winner would not come and - global pandemics not withstanding - these two teams will do it all again for a place in the quarter-finals at Molineux next Thursday.
All being well, Wolves will travel to London to take on West Ham in Premier League action on Sunday. That game is live on Sky Sports Premier League from 1pm. Kick-off is at 2pm.
