JAMES RODRIGUEZ’S new club Olympiacos suffered a humiliating 2-1 loss to Aris on the former Real Madrid star’s debut in Salonika.
And their manager Carlos Corberan was immediately sacked after taking over less than two months ago.
James joined the Piraeus giants on Thursday, which was the last day of the summer transfer window in Greece, and put pen to paper on a one-year deal.
The attacking midfielder made his full debut only three days later as he started in Corberan’s team against Aris, who recently hired Alan Pardew as their manager, in front of a fiery Kleanthis Vikelidis.
Olympiacos started strong and opened the scoring after just 15 minutes with Giorgos Masouras, who picked up a wonderful through pass by Hwang In-beom.
Former Everton star James put together a decent debut with some good positioning, fiery runs and accurate passing.
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In fact, Olympiacos proved they will definitely need him this season as they capitulated only four minutes after he was taken off the pitch.
Aris equalised with Daniel Mancini following a disastrous howler by goalkeeper Tomas Vaclik, who came off his line way too early and was beaten to the ball by the goalscorer on 76 minutes.
The hosts then turned the game around only three minutes later when Luis Palma picked up a pinpoint cross by Manu Garcia from the right and hit the back of the net with a clinical shot.
Former Newcastle manager Pardew celebrated an excellent start in the Aris dugout as he beat last season’s Superleague champions on his first match with the Salonika outfit.
This marks Olympiacos’ second consecutive loss after their Europa League thrashing to Freiburg at the Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium, where they lost 3-0.
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Tonight’s result seals a miserable month for the Greek champions, as they only won one out of five matches, of which they lost three.
James joined former Real team-mate Marcelo at Olympiacos during the dying days of the summer transfer window.
And Nottingham Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis’ other club will need both of their star signings at their best after the international break to save their hopes of a successful title defence.
It currently doesn’t look promising as Olympiacos are in fifth place and seven points behind table-toppers and rivals Panathinaikos.
And they are now searching for a new manager, who will become their third of the season already after Pedro Martins’ dismissal on August 1.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
