Olympiakos reaches out for the Conference League final after a surprising victory over Aston Villa

Olympiakos took a strong option on the final of the Conference League in their own country on Thursday evening. The Greeks silenced Aston Villa 2-4 in their first leg of the semi-finals.

The British surprisingly faced a double deficit just before the half hour mark. Ayoub El Kaabi (16′ and 29′) put his name on the scoreboard twice at Villa Park. Ollie Watkins (45+1′) lifted the home team back into the match at the start of injury time.

Everything could be done again quickly in the second half when Moussa Diaby (52′) scored the equalizer on a pass from Leon Bailey, ex-Racing Genk.

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However, El Kaabi (56′) delivered another blow a few minutes later by converting a penalty and completing his hat-trick. Santiago Hezze (67′) actually set the margin again at two goals difference with a quarter match to go. Douglas Luiz squandered the chance to score the tying goal in the 84th minute by missing a penalty kick. Youri Tielemans was injured in the losing camp.

The return match in Piraeus is scheduled for next Thursday at 9 p.m.