Olympiacos kept alive its dream of finishing in the top 24 of the League Phase and advancing to the knockout stage of this season’s Champions League, after an important 1–0 victory over Kairat Almaty in the freezing Astana Arena for Matchday 6 of the competition.

Gelson Martins “signed” the match with a brilliant goal in the 73rd minute — giving the Reds their first win in this season’s League Phase (and their first away win in the Champions League in 10 years). José Luis Mendilibar’s team also hit the woodwork twice and missed numerous chances in the second half to achieve a much wider scoreline.

Olympiacos tried to press from the opening minutes, kept its lines high, and searched for combinations in the final third. In the 4th minute, Tiquinho attempted a shot from the edge of the box but missed. In the 7th minute, from a cross by Podence from the left, El Kaabi rose for the header but sent the ball over the crossbar.

In the 14th minute, Martins’ effort was blocked, and in the 19th Anarbekov produced a big save on El Kaabi’s header. In the 21st minute, the Moroccan striker’s goal was disallowed because Tiquinho was offside in the buildup, and in the 22nd minute Anarbekov again denied El Kaabi with another superb save.

Kairat produced their first attempt of the match in the 51st minute, with a header from Zorzinio that went wide, while in the 60th minute Anarbekov punched away Tiquinho’s powerful shot.

In the final half-hour, Olympiacos increased its tempo, pressed Kairat far more aggressively, and with Christos Mouzakitis as a key driving force, brought the game completely under control. In the 73rd minute, after a great play by Mouzakitis and a through ball from Taremi, Martins broke from a wide position, weighed his options, and finished from a very difficult angle — passing the ball through the “eye of the needle” to make it 1–0 for Olympiacos.

The Reds dominated the game and began missing chance after chance. In the 76th minute, they came inches from 2–0 twice within seconds. Taremi burst through on the left, his shot was tipped by Anarbekov onto the left post, and in the continuing play El Kaabi’s header was also saved by the Kairat keeper.

In the 79th minute, during a three-against-one counterattack, El Kaabi found himself ready to score, but his low shot was again stopped by Anarbekov and deflected onto the crossbar — leaving the Moroccan striker in disbelief. In the 85th minute, Pirola made a superb tackle to stop Sorokin inside the box.

End of the match
Olympiacos beats Kairat 1–0.

19:21
Final minute.

19:20
At 90+2
Kairat records their first shot on target, from Zorzinio.

19:20
Three minutes of stoppage time.

19:18
At 90+1
Anarbekov denies Strefetza in a one-on-one.

19:18
Third post in the 90th minute
A shot from El Kaabi hits the post, but the play doesn’t count — it was offside.

19:17
At 88’
Zelson breaks away brilliantly on the counterattack but stops to pass to El Kaabi. Under pressure, the Moroccan cannot reach the ball.

19:15
At 87’
Olympiacos presses high to win the ball.

19:14

19:14
At 85’
Olympiacos leads with 1 goal and has also hit the post twice.

19:12
Olympiacos’ goal

19:10
At 82’
Stanoyev replaces Edmilson and Kasambulat replaces Bayndek.

19:10
Second post in the 79th minute
A through ball from Taremi, El Kaabi’s shot hits the post!

19:07
At 75’, another post for Olympiacos
A shot from Taremi hits the post. El Kaabi’s header on the rebound is also off target.

19:04
Huge chances for Olympiacos.

19:03
0–1 in the 73rd minute
Gelson Martins dribbles past everyone, shoots, and beats Kairat’s goalkeeper at his near post.

19:01
At 71’ the match continues.

18:58
Olympiacos is pressing with set pieces from free kicks and corners, but the ball just won’t go into the net.

We are waiting for Mendilibar’s substitutions.

09/12/2025 18:43
At 52′, the game continues.

09/12/2025 18:39
Header by Jorginho, the ball goes out.

09/12/2025 18:38
Olympiacos still has not made a substitution.

09/12/2025 18:36
Weak shot by Martins, corner!

09/12/2025 18:35
El Kaabi is brought down in the box but there is an offside — the play does not count.

09/12/2025 18:34
Two substitutions for Kairat:
Zaria and Ricardinho off — Gromiko and Jorginho on.

09/12/2025 18:33
Kick-off for the second half.

09/12/2025 18:23
Halftime
Kairat – Olympiacos 0-0.

09/12/2025 18:18
One minute of added time.

09/12/2025 18:17
Cross by Mouzakitis, El Kaabi couldn’t connect with the header inside the six-yard box.

09/12/2025 18:17
Another poor corner delivery from Rodinei — Olympiacos’ 6th corner.

09/12/2025 18:15
At 44′, the game continues.

09/12/2025 18:13
Olympiacos has seven attempts, two on target.

09/12/2025 18:12
Great performance from Anarmbekov.

09/12/2025 18:12
Rodinei played it short, but Martins didn’t send the ball into the box.

09/12/2025 18:10
Another corner for Olympiacos.

09/12/2025 18:09
Podence’s shot deflected off bodies, and the Kairat goalkeeper collected the ball.

09/12/2025 18:08
Kairat still hasn’t created a chance in the game.

El Kaabi scored, but he was offside and the goal does not count.

09/12/2025 17:53
At 21′, the game is still 0-0.

09/12/2025 17:53
Taken by Mouzakitis, but it was not a good attempt.

09/12/2025 17:51
Corner for Olympiacos.

09/12/2025 17:50
Chance for Olympiacos at 18′ – El Kaabi’s diving header saved brilliantly by Anarmbekov.

09/12/2025 17:48
At 17′, Olympiacos is playing better but without a major chance.

09/12/2025 17:46
Yellow card for Esse at 14′.

09/12/2025 17:45
Martins shoots inside the box after a Podence attempt, ball blocked by Sorokin.

09/12/2025 17:42
At 10′, the game continues.

09/12/2025 17:40
El Kaabi with a header from a Podence cross, ball goes high over the goal.

09/12/2025 17:39
At 6′, the game is back and forth, no real chance yet.

Kairat: Anarmbekov, Tapalov, Sirobokov, Sorokin, Mata, Glazer, Baibek, Mrinski, Ricardinho, Zaria, Edmilson

Olympiacos: Tzolakis, Bianco, Pirola, Ortega, Rodinei, Esse, Mouzakitis, Tiquinho, Martins, Podence, El Kaabi

09/12/2025 17:29
Referee: Juan Martínez Munuera from Spain

“The teams are coming onto the pitch.”

09/12/2025 17:18
José Luis Mendilibar

09/12/2025 17:17
Olympiacos plays on Sunday at Vikelidis Stadium against Aris, but if they don’t win here today, they say goodbye to the Champions League.

09/12/2025 17:16
More than 600 Olympiacos fans are at the Astana stadium.

09/12/2025 17:15
Earlier, Olympiacos’ U-20 team lost 2-0 to Kairat’s U-20 in the UEFA Youth League.

09/12/2025 17:07
The local time in Astana is 20:05.

09/12/2025 17:05
On the return leg, Olympiacos plays on 20/1 against Bayer Leverkusen in Piraeus and on 28/1 against Ajax in Amsterdam.

09/12/2025 17:04
After this round, the Champions League will take a break for more than a month.

09/12/2025 17:03
At the moment, the Piraeus team is in 33rd place in the standings; remember, 24 teams qualify.

09/12/2025 17:02
Olympiacos has just 2 points from 5 games, and to stay in contention for the knockout stage, they must get an away win in Kazakhstan.

09/12/2025 17:01
El Kaabi warming up before the big game.

09/12/2025 16:59
The temperature in Astana is -22°C.

09/12/2025 16:59
Olympiacos will play in this kit.

09/12/2025 16:58
Mendilibar selected Podence and Tiquinho for the starting lineup. In recent games, Taremi and Strefezza had been in their positions.

09/12/2025 16:58
Konstantis Tzolakis