Greece hold nerve in Almaty
Tuesday, September 6, 2005
Article summary
Kazakhstan 1-2 Greece Greece kept alive their hopes of reaching the play-offs in November with victory against a committed Kazakhstan.
Article body
Pressure on
Alexandros Tziolis and Charilaos Pappas scored in each half to move the Greeks to 17 points from ten games in Group 2. The win keeps the pressure on Turkey and Ukraine who occupy the two positions above them and behind leaders Denmark. The top two will reach November's play-offs.
Andriolas inspired
Kazakhstan showed no fear in the early stages and were quicker to find their feet. Only the safe hands of visiting goalkeeper Konstantinos Andriolas denied the hosts following early efforts from Aidar Argimbayev and Vadim Borovskiy.
Aliyev chip
Nonetheless, Greece scored first in the eighth minute. A swift counterattack resulted in a corner which Tziolis headed in. The Kazakhs refused to buckle though and reclaimed the initiative. They had to wait for the equaliser but it was worth it, Piraly Aliyev chipping a stranded Andriolas from 30 metres on 54 minutes.
Neat move
Greece were back in front within three minutes, however. Following a neat passing move, Pappas rounded two defenders before slotting the ball into the corner. The hosts pushed for a second equaliser, notably when Borovskiy went close with an 18-metre free-kick, but the visitors were not to be denied.
