Donis: “We fought for every ball”



Panathinaikos head coach Giorgos Donis was pleased with the effort against Olympiacos, but Pedro Martins revealed his disappointment with the visitors’ thoroughly sluggish showing.

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Due to Gate 13 boycotting the Derby of the Eternal Enemies, there wasn’t much of an atmosphere within the largely empty Olympic Stadium, but the match wasn’t short on excitement. During the first half, Panathinaikos competed with infectious energy and tenacity, but Olympiacos opened the scoring in the 36th minute with Miguel Angel Guerrero firing a low effort beyond Sokratis Dioudis. However, a rather sluggish Olympiacos lacked any kind of intensity after their UEFA Champions League efforts, and plucky Panathinaikos secured a well-deserved point in stoppage time as Yohan Mollo lashed a penalty past the superb Jose Sa. Federico Macheda had earlier seen a spot-kick saved by Sa in the early stages of the second half.

“We played with plenty of effort and concentration today, fighting for every ball,” stated Donis. “I would also like to thank the supporters for coming to the stadium today despite our poor results, it’s important that they have the chance to express their emotions. We made a tactical mistake for the goal which Olympiacos scored. During the game, we looked to avoid coming under pressure from Olympiacos, however we lacked confidence when in possession. We had opportunities to score before Olympiacos made the breakthrough.”

“As far as I’m concerned, we cannot celebrate draws at home,” continued the 49-year-old. “In comparison to previous matches, our team played differently. The second penalty? I asked for Yohan Mollo to take it. There was a great desire today.”

Olympiacos manager Pedro Martins wasn’t willing to use fatigue as an excuse: “I am not going to use tiredness as an excuse for our performance today,” said Martins. “We played without intensity and concentration against an opponent which competed with its soul. This is completely my responsibility. A draw is not a good result for us, we were a lot worse than on Wednesday against Tottenham Hotspur. Panathinaikos played with a lot more energy. Did we ever underestimate Panathinaikos? No, not at all. We did not play well.”

Yohan Mollo, who scored his maiden Super League goal, thinks that this result will help Panathinaikos get back on track: “After everything which happened during the week, we really wanted to gain a positive result. I believe that this performance will help us move forward. My penalty? The coach asked me to take it. I am a man, and I couldn’t turn down the opportunity. It was a challenge, but I wasn’t afraid.”

Lively Panathinaikos forward Juan Jose Perea was happy to hear the fans applauding the team: “I’m ready to be an important member of this team, we want to be competitive in the Super League and I believe that we will be. I thank everyone who is supporting me here. The support of the fans is very important, it was great to hear their applause when the match ended. We had no fear.”

Olympiacos goalscorer Miguel Angel Guerrero also wasn’t willing to use tiredness as an excuse for the visitors from Piraeus: “I am not going to say that fatigue is the excuse for our performance today, we should have been ready,” exclaimed the in-form Spanish forward. “We made mistakes and bad decisions. This has to change if we want to become champions. We played well against Tottenham, but this wasn’t the case today. We must continue working hard to achieve positive results. Have we gained one point today? No, we have lost two. We must improve.”

Mathieu Valbuena also wasn’t satisfied with the one point for Olympiacos at the OAKA: “Of course I’m not happy. I am disappointed with both the result and the performance, it was a big match and we wanted to win. We missed a great opportunity because PAOK lost points against Aris earlier in the day.”