Thursday 2nd May 2024 - Europa Conference League - Semi Final - 1st Leg - Result
Aston Villa 2 Olympiakos 4
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Aston Villa boss Unai Emery told TNT Sports: "Congratulations to them."We didn't play like we are playing. We need to keep being consistent.
"They deserved to win. They are a good team. They have experience.
"It's not about luck. We didn't play well. We have to play better. They deserved to win.
On his message to his players: "Prepare for the match next Thursday. Try to play better, compete better."
ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/594/cpsprodpb/vivo/live/images/2024/5/2/e892537c-b06e-4110-8514-929b92cf4c9c.jpgAston Villa captain John McGinn to TNT Sports: "Not the game we wanted. We wanted a lot more control. We started the game well.
"They're a good side. We wanted a victory going to Greece. We showed we're capable of coming back.
"Mistakes all round tonight. We'll take responsibility but it's up to us to go to Athens and turn it around because we're capable.
"They played very well tactically. They played the way we expected so there were no surprises.
"Everything that could have gone wrong tonight did.
"The manager was still positive in there. There's still a long way to go.
"We need to play a lot better than we did tonight but we're more than capable of doing it.
"Hopefully we'll have a few players back. The onus is on us to attack Olympiakos and score some goals.
"We have a mountain to climb but we know we're capable."
Report By Timothy Abraham, BBC Sport.
Aston Villa's hopes of reaching the Europa Conference League final were hit by a chaotic semi-final first-leg home defeat to Olympiakos.
Ayoub El Kaabi scored a hat-trick, netting twice in the opening half hour as the Greek side took a 2-0 lead.
Ollie Watkins reduced the deficit for Unai Emery's side and Moussa Diaby equalised moments after the interval.
Olympiakos roared back in front with an El Kaabi penalty and a deflected strike from Santiago Hezze.
Douglas Luiz missed a late penalty which means Villa must overturn a two-goal margin in the second leg in Piraeus on 9th May to reach their first European final since 1982.
El Kaabi began the goal flurry with a clinical finish. It was initially disallowed for an offside, but that was overturned by the video assistant referee (VAR).
The Morocco striker added a classy second when he latched on to Daniel Podence's clever pass over the top and slipped the ball under Robin Olsen.
Watkins pulled a goal back for Villa in added time in the first half with an angled finish from just outside the six-yard box.
Diaby then levelled as Konstantinos Tzolakis was beaten at his near post.
Villa seemed to have the momentum at that point but were sucker-punched by their visitors.
Douglas Luiz handled a Panagiotis Retsos header and El Kaabi coolly sent Olsen the wrong way from the resulting spot-kick to take his tally to eight goals in the competition.
There was more than an element of fortune to Olympiakos' fourth as Hezze's speculative effort flicked off the back of Ezri Konsa to wrong-foot Olsen.
Douglas Luiz had a late opportunity to atone for his error after David Carmo felled Jhon Duran but, to the incredulity of the home fans, he failed to hit the target.