magic mitroglou inspires olympiacos in brussels published: wednesday 2 october 2013, 22.59cet
rsc anderlecht 0-3 olympiacos fc
kostas mitroglou scored a superb hat-trick to punish the hosts' wayward finishing and secure the greek champions a first group c win.
by david crossan from constant vanden stock stadium
a kostas mitroglou hat-trick helped olympiacos fc rack up their first uefa champions league group c points at rsc anderlecht's expense, leaving the hosts ruing a series of missed openings.
the belgian champions created the bulk of the chances but paid for their inability to match mitroglou's potency, the forward first displaying his goalscoring instinct on 17 minutes with a stabbed finish. anderlecht's aleksandar mitrović had a penalty saved before two fine second-half mitroglou strikes – completing the first hat-trick by a greek player in the competition – sealed things for míchel's men ahead of the matchday three trip to sl benfica.
anderlecht were quickly out of the blocks and in a fluent five-minute spell carved out three promising opportunities. dennis praet poked wide, massimo bruno went close with a volley, and bram nuytinck was marginally off target after visiting goalkeeper roberto flapped at a praet free-kick. olympiacos, though, were clinical as they converted their first major opening. the creator was javier saviola, who anticipated guillaume gillet's clearance and stole possession to tee up mitroglou for a calm finish under thomas kaminski.
anderlecht came storming back and won a 25th-minute penalty when andreas samaris manhandled midfielder sacha kljestan. converting from the spot has been problematic for the brussels club for over a season now and mitrović, the 19-year-old serbia forward, continued the trend as his low kick was saved by roberto to the keeper's right. seven minutes later, praet volleyed over on the run after a great ball from 16-year-old tournament debutant youri tielemans.
the second half was a case of history repeating itself as enterprising anderlecht again enjoyed three opportunities in rapid succession before a mitroglou goal. after home captain gillet was unable to register from close range, matías suárez's 51st-minute shot across goal agonisingly eluded both the net and mitrović's right boot. within seconds roberto had kept out mitrović with a stupendous stop.
in the 56th minute, though, mitroglou calmly notched his second. having been played onside by nuytinck, the greek international latched onto delvin n'dinga's header and gave kaminski no chance. the powerful attacker's assured finishing display continued in the 72nd minute as he curled a beauty into the top corner after a swift counterattack, led by substitute david fuster, to ensure the piraeus side got their campaign off the ground. no such luck for john van den brom's team.
