Olympiacos left Manchester United with a mountain to climb if they want to qualify for the Champions League quarter-finals, easing to a 2-0 victory over the Red Devils in the first leg of their last-16 tie this evening.
The hosts opened the scoring towards the end of the first half when Alejandro Dominguez produced a clever flick to divert a wayward shot past David de Gea.
It was 2-0 not long after the restart as Arsenal loanee Joel Campbell cut inside from the right before curling a fine effort into the bottom corner.
Here, Sports Mole looks back on a bitterly disappointing night for United and a historic win for Olympiacos.
Match statistics
Olympiacos
Shots: 12
On target: 4
Possession: 40%
Corners: 1
Fouls: 10
Man Utd
Shots: 7
On target: 1
Possession: 60%
Corners: 4
Fouls: 10
Was the result fair?
Yes. Manchester United may have had more possession than their opponents, but they failed to do anything with it and were comfortably kept at bay for the vast majority of the match - as their sole shot on target shows.
The visitors' first chance of the match came in the 82nd minute and, while Robin van Persie should have scored it, he never looked like doing so, just like the whole team never looked like getting what could have been a crucial away goal. Olympiacos by no means dominated proceedings, but they looked at ease in defence and were the more threatening team in attack until the final five minutes or so, when United finally started to show a bit of urgency.
Olympiacos' performance
This performance isn't exactly going to catapult their name amongst the potential winners of the competition, but it could well be enough to see them through to the last eight. They didn't put in a great display themselves in terms of entertainment, but they stopped United playing by pressing high up the pitch, forcing the visitors into hurried passes that often went astray. Their defence stood firm for most of the match, although they weren't exactly tested too stringently, while their attack carved out enough chances to win the game and give themselves a decent cushion. They will certainly fancy their chances of progressing into the quarter-finals now.
Man Utd's performance
Dreadful. In a season filled with disappointments, this must be right up there as one of the biggest. It was a lacklustre display by every single United player - with the possible exception of Nemanja Vidic - and that made for a truly woeful team performance. The number of passes that went astray was alarming for the visitors as they gave the ball away far too often through careless and sloppy pieces of play. They were unable to string enough good passing moves together to really threaten the Olympiacos defence, who were rarely troubled by Van Persie, Wayne Rooney and co. A 2-0 deficit is not an insurmountable one at Old Trafford, but if they are to progress into the next round then they will need a much better performance than they showed tonight.
Sports Mole's man of the match
Alejandro Dominguez: While neither side carved out chances at will, the player who looked most likely to threaten throughout was Dominguez. He made the first chance of the game with a long run into the United box before eventually being stopped by a fine Vidic challenge, while he made a similar run in the second half until he once again ran into the Serb. His goal contained a small slice of luck as the poor shot went towards him, but he displayed impressive ingenuity and quick thinking to flick it past De Gea and into the corner, giving his side the lead and kickstarting their famous victory.
Biggest gaffe
There were no big gaffes this evening, so this one can go to the entire United team for the sheer volume of poor passes they produced. Often they gave the ball away in dangerous areas simply because they didn't look where they were passing, or because they woefully misplaced their pass. Even the likes of Michael Carrick - normally so accurate with his passing - was giving the ball away carelessly, and this failure to build good, attacking moves prevented them from putting the Olympiacos defence under any sustained pressure.
Referee performance
Gianluca Rocchi had a fairly quiet game this evening. He threatened to set an alarming precedent when he harshly booked Patrice Evra in just the third minute, but he didn't prove to be too card-happy after all and had a solid game.
What next?
Olympiacos: Olympiacos will look to edge ever closer to another inevitable league title when they host Panathinaikos on Sunday.
Man Utd: United, meanwhile, will look to bounce back when they face West Bromwich Albion at The Hawthorns this Saturday.
Barney Corkhill
