A brave display from a young Arsenal side was not enough to defeat Olympiakos, who reached the last 16.
Olympiakos join Arsenal in last 16 after 1-0 victory
A brave performance from a young Arsenal side was not enough to defeat Olympiakos as the Greek champions advanced to the last 16 of the UEFA Champions League.
Having already sealed top spot in Group H, Gunners boss Arsene Wenger rotated his pack and fielded a starting XI that had an average age of just 21-years-old.
And the talented group held their own for much of the encounter at the Karaiskakis Stadium, until Leonardo broke the deadlock against the run of play two minutes after half-time.
Mexican forward Carlos Vela then spurned two fantastic opportunities to salvage a point, but the home side held on to ensure they finished as runners-up and joined their opponents in the knockout phase.
Atmosphere
Wenger chose to rest most of his first-team regulars - with 18-year-old left-back Tom Cruise handed a debut and reserve captain Kyle Bartley playing alongside Mikael Silvestre, 32, in central defence.
And as expected, the atmosphere inside the Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium was white hot as the passionate home support attempted to drag their team into the knockout stages.
It was, though, a bright start by the young Gunners, with an average age of 21 - and that boosted by the presence of veteran Silvestre.
On 10 minutes, Walcott dashed into the right side of the penalty area, but his rising shot was parried by keeper Antonis Nikopolidis.
Olympiakos broke quickly through Argentinean Luciano Galletti down the right, with Oscar Gonzalez touching the all off to Kostas Mitroglou - only for the Greek striker to fire over the crossbar.
Galletti volleyed wide at the far post following another swift counter by the hosts.
Walcott, though, continued to look menacing, and again burst into the area, this time on the left before being crowded out by two defenders.
However, Olympiakos took the lead at the start of the second half.
Bartley upended Oscar Gonzalez, but the referee played a good advantage as Leonardo latched onto the loose ball and dashed into the left side of the area before slotting through Lukasz Fabianski's legs to put the Greeks within sight of the knockout stage.
Arsenal should have equalised when Ramsey dashed clear down the Olympiakos left and to the edge of the 18-yard box before cleverly cutting a pass square to Vela - but the Mexican hit his shot straight at the keeper.
Credit
As the hour mark passed, to their credit the youngsters continued to take the game to the Greeks.
Ramsey's angled ball put Walcott in down the right, but Raul Bravo got across to make a timely block.
From the resulting corner, the Wales midfielder then failed to get any real power with his downward header at the far post.
Vela was again wasteful when slipped into the area by Merida, this time firing over the top with a first-time effort when he could have taken another touch.
Fabianski denied Leonardo a second with a fine reaction save as the Brazilian cut into the left side of the Arsenal box before.
On 76 minutes, Jack Wilshere, who looks set to go out on loan in January for more regular first-team football, was replaced by 18-year-old Frenchman Gilles Sunu - another from the impressive Arsenal academy production line.
Arsenal's youngsters continued to fight to the end, almost grabbing a late equaliser when Ramsey's close-range effort was cleared off the line following a corner, and will certainly have grown a bit wiser from the experience.
| Olympiakos |
Team Statistics |
Arsenal |
| 1 |
Goals |
0 |
| 0 |
1st Half Goals |
0 |
| 4 |
Shots on Target |
3 |
| 9 |
Shots off Target |
6 |
| 2 |
Blocked Shots |
4 |
| 4 |
Corners |
5 |
| 14 |
Fouls |
16 |
| 2 |
Offsides |
1 |
| 1 |
Yellow Cards |
1 |
| 0 |
Red Cards |
0 |
| 76 |
Passing Success |
82.8 |
| 30 |
Tackles |
18 |
| 70 |
Tackles Success |
72.2 |
| 39.1 |
Possession |
60.9 |
| 39 |
Territorial Advantage |
61 |
|
