David Carmo secures 1-0 win for Olympiacos over Atromitos in Greek Super League opener

Super League opener at Karaiskakis

Olympiacos opened their domestic campaign at Karaiskakis Stadium with a 1-0 victory over Atromitos in the opening round of the Greek Super League. Manager José Luis Mendilibar deployed a starting lineup featuring Francisco Ortega in goal, backed by a defensive line of Rodinei, Smailovic, Lorenzo Pirola, and Bruno. Christos Mouzakitis and Santiago Hezze formed the central midfield pairing, while Gelson Martins, Sá, and Kostas Fortounis operated in attacking midfield behind Moroccan striker Ayoub El Kaabi. Visiting manager Dušan Kerkez lined up Atromitos with Lefteris Choutesiotis in goal, supported by Mountes, Dimitrios Stavropoulos, Gerasimos Mitoglou, Jere Uronen, Theocharis Tsingaras, Samuel Moutoussamy, Nunez, Steven Zuber, Pnevmonidis, and Tsantilas.

First-half pressure and defensive resilience

The home side established attacking control early in the contest, creating multiple chances across the opening 45 minutes of play. Sá registered the first clear opportunity in the 8th minute, turning at the edge of the penalty area before shooting wide of the target. Two minutes later, in the 10th minute, Fortounis delivered a cross from the right flank that found El Kaabi, whose diving header travelled just wide of the left post. Olympiacos continued to threaten through set pieces, with Fortounis sending a 28th-minute direct free kick narrowly past the post from outside the box. Gelson Martins tested Choutesiotis with a long-range attempt in the 30th minute, and Sá directed another Fortounis cross wide in the 37th minute, sending the teams into halftime at 0-0.

Choutesiotis saves and late breakthrough

Both teams returned for the second half without personnel changes, and Olympiacos resumed offensive pressure immediately after the restart. In the 48th minute, Fortounis curled another delivery into the penalty box for El Kaabi, whose close-range header was kept out by a reflex save from Choutesiotis. The Atromitos goalkeeper stopped another scoring attempt in the 55th minute when Sá fed Gelson Martins, who backheeled the ball to the advancing Nigerian defender Bruno for a shot from an angle. One minute later, in the 56th minute, Choutesiotis denied an acrobatic bicycle kick from El Kaabi and reacted immediately to cover the follow-up attempt from Sá.

Penalty stop, Carmo goal and late red card

The decisive moments arrived inside the final ten minutes of regular time at Karaiskakis Stadium. Olympiacos earned a penalty kick in the 80th minute, but Choutesiotis dove to stop El Kaabi's effort from the spot and maintain the scoreless draw. The resistance ended two minutes later in the 82nd minute when David Carmo scored the opening goal with a finish from inside the box. The final minutes produced further disruption as Olympiacos full-back Rodinei was sent off with a direct red card following a foul on Sotiris Tsiloulis. Despite the numerical disadvantage in the final stages, Mendilibar's team held their one-goal margin through the final whistle to collect all three points.