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Arsenal 2 Olympiacos 3: Olympiacos were 'never scared' of Arsenal during Champions League tie

The Gunners twice pulled things level but still ended up losing

Wednesday 30 September 2015 08:21 BST

Alexis Sanchez of Arsenal exchanges words with Pajtim Kasami of Olympiacos (GETTY IMAGES)

Olympiacos were never scared of Arsenal and were totally focused on defeating them in the Champions League on Tuesday to rewrite the pages of their own European history saga, according to their coach Marco Silva.

Olympiacos ended a 50-year losing streak in England by beating Arsenal 3-2 - having lost all 12 of their previous competitive European matches in the country since they played West Ham United in the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1965.

Olympiacos also ended a run of six successive away defeats in European competition and they now have a fighting chance of advancing to the last 16 from Group F.

"We were very concentrated on the game, very focused," Silva told reporters.

"The most important thing was for the players to give everything they had, to believe in themselves and never be scared.

"We were never scared, even when Arsenal scored. We always respect our opponents but we were never scared and never thought we couldn't make it."

Arsenal 2 Olympiakos 3 player ratings

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1/11Arsenal 2 Olympiakos 3 player ratings

Arsenal 2 Olympiakos 3 player ratings

David Ospina: 3 out of 10

Managed to drop the ball into his net under no pressure whatsoever. Wenger may have taken an unneccesary gamble promoting the keeper to his starting XI but he would hardly have expected such an abysmal response, though Ospina couldn’t have done much about the first.

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Arsenal 2 Olympiakos 3 player ratings

Hector Bellerin: 6 out of 10

Salino struggled to keep up with the pacey Spaniard who attacked with verve when Oxlade-Chamberlain cut in. That thrust was allied with more dependable defending than a great many of his colleagues provided.

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Arsenal 2 Olympiakos 3 player ratings

Gabriel: 5 out of 10

A foolish yellow card on the stroke of half-time left the Brazilian walking an unnecessary knife-edge in the second 45 minutes. His commitment and passion is all well and good, except playing at a constant boiling point tends to leave you in those situations too often.

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Arsenal 2 Olympiakos 3 player ratings

Laurent Koscielny: 6 out of 10

On several occasions the defender was the last line between Arsenal’s porous midfield and Brown Ideye. His interceptions kept the hosts in the game throughout the first half.

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Arsenal 2 Olympiakos 3 player ratings

Kieran Gibbs: 5 out of 10

Too often he and Alexis Sanchez seemed to be operating on entirely different wave lengths, with the reserve left-back earning a berating from his teammate for one particularly sloppy pass. He was also guilty of switching off for the visitor’s third.

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Arsenal 2 Olympiakos 3 player ratings

Santi Cazorla: 5 out 10

His defensive deficiencies were on display for Olympiakos opening goal. Converted attacker or not he should have known to close down the opponent on the edge of the box. As a leader he was perhaps worse, remonstrating with the referee and letting the occasion get the better of him in a way that could have spread to his colleagues.

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Arsenal 2 Olympiakos 3 player ratings

Francis Coquelin: 5 out 10

Played like a man rushed back from an injury, though of course Wenger had no choice. He struggled to stem the tide of runners from deep and could not keep up with the likes of Pardo. This was not Coquelin at his authoritative best and it was little wonder he was removed early.

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Arsenal 2 Olympiakos 3 player ratings

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain: 5 out of 10

It turns out if you say a player has no confidence he will play as if that is the case. His running was as purposeful and direct as ever, but when opportunities came he seemed to lose faith in his abilities.

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Arsenal 2 Olympiakos 3 player ratings

Mesut Ozil: 6 out of 10

On more than one occasion he pulled off the sort of beautiful pass only he is capable of, and his willingness to come deep helped Arsenal start many of their best counters. However in the second half he faded when faced with the massed ranks of Olympiakos defenders, struggling to conjure a way past.

Arsenal 2 Olympiakos 3 player ratings

Alexis Sanchez: 8 out of 10

On this kind of form you would expect him to dribble past every player on the pitch. Then go round them again just for fun. An irresistible performance from the Chilean, who on nights like tonight is simply a joy to behold.

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Arsenal 2 Olympiakos 3 player ratings

Theo Walcott: 7 out of 10

With every passing game Walcott looks more and more a centre-forward. His runs are intelligent enough to find space and he is showing less of the profligacy that has dogged him in the past. He had one chance in the first half; he took it.

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Olympiacos led 1-0, 2-1 and finally 3-2 in the game at The Emirates which condemned Arsenal to bottom place in the group with no points from their opening two matches.

Silva noted that Arsenal made his team work for the victory.

"Whichever team comes here to win needs to know how to suffer, to put up with the pressure, and I think that was one of the key features here today," he said.

"We ran a lot and resisted when Arsenal tried to tire us, we were very well organised defensively and had very quick responses to Arsenal's goals which was very important."

He also said they were aiming to go further than last season when they finished third in their group.

"We can't set limits, we are here and our duty is to improve every day. We know that there are a lot of differences between our team and others like Bayern (Munich) and Arsenal.

"Our budget is much smaller than theirs but we can't set a limit to what we want to achieve and how hard we work.

"These kids believed they could take a win in this stadium and worked really hard for it."

Reuters

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