Olympiakos beats Alkmaar 1-0 in Champions League

PIRAEUS, Greece (AP) Vassilis Torosidis scored a late header Wednesday to give Olympiakos a 1-0 win over AZ Alkmaar 1-0 in the opening round of the Champions League.

The Greece defender headed in a cross from Jaouad Zairi in the 79th minute to break the deadlock in a lackluster game in Group H, with neither team creating many chances.

Four minutes later, Olympiakos goalkeeper Antonis Nikopolidis leapt to block a shot from Jeremain Lens.

Olympiakos announced shortly before the game it had hired former Brazil star Zico as new coach on a two-year contract. Zico, a former coach for the Japanese national team and Fenerbahce, watched the match at Karaiskaki stadium from the sidelines.

The club fired Georgian coach Temuri Ketsbaia on Tuesday following poor league results.

"This was a very important win for us, it gave us a boost," Torosidis said. "We've had a bad spell for the last two months, and that's everyone's fault. There's five more group games to play (in the Champions League) and our aim is to qualify, but it's too early to say anything."

Olympiakos pressed forward for most of the match but had a shaky start, missing influential right winger Luciano Galletti through injury until his Moroccan replacement Zairi made his presence felt.

Defender Didier Domi also sat out for the Greek champions after sustaining an injury while warming up for match.

Moussa Dembele almost put the Dutch ahead in the ninth minute, missing at close range with only Nikopolidis to beat.

In The 71st, Nikopolidis blocked a shot on target from Brett Holman.

Updated September 16, 2009

© 2010 by STATS LLC and Associated Press.
Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and Associated Press is strictly prohibited.