Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Melbourne: A second half Trent Sainsbury goal proved to be nothing more than a consolation as Australia lost to Greece 2-1 in Melbourne on Tuesday.
The result, which will long be remembered for Giannis Maniatis’ stunning strike from distance, comes in the wake of Saturday’s game between the two protagonists which saw the reigning AFC Asian Cup champions emerge as 1-0 winners thanks to a Mathew Leckie effort.
However, having been dominated for large periods of the weekend game in Sydney, it was Greece who started brightly at the Etihad Stadium and went ahead after only eight minutes when Petros Mantalos curled a shot past Australia goalkeeper Adam Federici.
Greece duly doubled their deserved lead some 13 minutes later when Maniatis stole the ball just inside his own half before sending an exquisite lob over the head of Federici who had strayed off his line.
Australia gave themselves a glimmer of hope on 58 minutes when Sainsbury head home after Tim Cahill’s shot had been deflected.
The clashes with Greece come after last month’s 2-1 friendly defeat to England and form part of the Ange Postecoglou-led side’s preparations ahead of the start of the third round of qualifiers for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in September.