Ergotelis fooled by Cesarec trick

By: Peter Katsiris | November 24th, 2008

In Nikos Kostenoglou’s first game in charge of Asteras Tripolis, Ergotelis fell victim to a rampant Asteras attack with a 3-1 loss to the Arcadian club in Tripoli. The Cretans were keen to erase a horrific last-minute loss to Thrasyvoulos last week with a road victory; however, a managerial makeover proved to be the right tonic for Asteras Tripolis who look set to get back on track this season.

The home side was nearly on the scoreboard as early as the sixth minute as Brazilian defender Flavio smashed his effort agains the post. Just one minute later Asteras did surge ahead, but this time it was Danijel Cesarec who peppered Iosif Daskalakis as the Croatian placed his inside-the-box effort firmly past the Greek shot stopper.

Moments later Lucio Filomeno could have extended Asteras’ early lead but Daskalakis made up for the early concession of a tally, and robbed the Argentine of a goal.

Robbery came around again for Asteras Tripolis, but it was the woodwork that stole another potential goal for the hosts as Asteras captain Nikos Lazaridis headed his effort off the frame of the goal.

Despite his teammates experiencing poor fortunes, Cesarec continued to glow with good fortunes and the Croat doubled his tally on the day with a much deserved goal just after the half hour mark.

Three minutes on and Asteras had an even more commanding lead, and to no surprise it was Cesarec who increased Ergotelis’ misery and capped his scoring display with a hat-trick to his name.

Ergotelis managed to answer back after what appeared to be an unresponsive opening forty minutes, as Dimitrios Orfanos assured there was some consolation ahead of the halftime whistle.

With a comfortable lead, Asteras looked content to defend for the remaining forty-five minutes. A tight grip in the Asteras end of the pitch assured Ergotelis wouldn’t climb level in the final frame. The Cretans did, however, grab one decent opportunity but the club’s leading scorer, Patrick Ogounsoto, failed to hit the target with sixty-third minute effort.

Asteras Tripolis 3-1 Ergotelis
Cesarec 9′, 36′, 40′ – Orfanos 44′

Yellow Cards:
Asteras Tripolis – none.
Ergotelis – Frangoulakis 18′, Orfanos 22′.

Asteras Tripolis (Nikos Kostenoglou): Abaris, Flavio, Kanakoudis, Lazaridis, Cardozo, Ladakis (61′ Damonte), FIlomeno (78′ Ereros), Zairi (73′ Urribarri), Cesarec, Marcelao, Fitanidis.

Ergotelis (Nikos Karageorgiou): Daskalakis, Fernandes, Orfanos, Geladaris, Plassnegger (65′ Rogerio), Koutsianikoulis (61′ Romano), Grammozis, Gialousis, Frangoulakis, Ogounsoto (82′ Vakouftsis), Budimir.

Referee: Christoforos Zografos

Venue: Asteras Tripolis Stadium, Tripoli, Greece.