Canberra Olympic are on the cusp of FFA Cup glory after a penalty in injury time earned them an unlikely 1-0 quarter-final victory over Green Gully on Tuesday night.
Skipper and veteran goalkeeper Angelo Konstantinou scored the winner in added time after Jeremy Habtemariam was taken down inside the box at Deakin Stadium.
It was 37-year-old Konstantinou’s first game back since returning from the FIFA Futsal World Cup where he represented Australia.
The win secures them a home semi-final against A-League glamour club Sydney FC next month.
Olympic were down to just 10 men after Adam Rogic – the brother of Socceroos and Celtic midfielder Tom Rogic – was sent off in the 60th minute following two yellow cards.
The game looked headed for extra time with shots from both sides proving fruitless, until the spot kick was awarded for the tackle on Habtemariam.
Possession flowed Green Gully’s way early in the first half, but the visitors couldn’t find a way to the back of the net despite a flurry of shots.
Olympic, on the other hand, looked dangerous on the few occasions they were inside the box – including a screamer from Timothy Bobolas in the 25th minute.
Gully’s best chance came via Liam Boland, whose well-struck free-kick was stopped by a Konstantinou.
Boland, the competition’s second-highest goalscorer heading into the game, narrowly missed another after the break as players’ frustrations began to show.
Four yellow cards were issued in the space of 15 minutes – two over a scuffle and the others to Rogic for an automatic red on the hour mark.
But even with a man down, Olympic somehow wrested back control and had more opportunities in front of goal than their rivals – including the winner.
Melange
Guest
The mighty Olympic are on a roll. Interesting media coverage in the lead up, you wouldn't have thought Olympic were involved. I regularly read The Roar, FourFourTwo, The World Game and Fox Sports and all the coverage centered on Green Gully and Arthur Pappas, not one quote from Canberra Olympic and the only analysis of their team I saw was from Pappas. We were struggling in the first half without being in too much trouble but dominated the second, even when we went down to 10 men. A pity Rogic got sent off, he was looking very comfortable out there, very out of character for him to lash out like that. I'm not naïve enough to suggest our boys are complete angels, but the Green Gully players seemed a very spiteful bunch and pretty classless with some of their sledging. Looking forward to beating Sydney FC!