ATHENS, Greece (AP) โ Olympiacos beat Fiorentina 1-0 on Wednesday with a last-minute goal in extra time in the Europa Conference League final to claim Greece's first European club title.
Ayoub El Kabi dived in the dying seconds of extra time to score a dramatic ending, sending fans into ecstasy after a lengthy wait for a VAR check for offside.
The Moroccan striker, the tournament's top scorer, scored in the 116th minute and then took a knee while waiting for the decision to be made. After a high-octane but largely risk-free game at the AEK Arena that looked set to go to penalties, El Kabi sealed the win by converting Santiago Heze's cross.
The late goal condemned Fiorentina and manager Vincenzo Italiano to a second consecutive defeat in a Europa Conference League final, following their loss to West Ham last year.
Olympiacos manager Jose Luis Mendilibar won the Europa League with Sevilla last season, marking a second consecutive European title.
Tens of thousands of Olympiacos fans took part in an outdoor party and then joined in wild celebrations across the Greek capital, with young people waving flares in the team's home port city of Piraeus near Athens.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis described Olympiacos as “true legends” and added in an online post: “Olympiacos have made history by winning the Europa Conference League! A sensational night for the club itself and for Greek football as a whole.”
The match between the European third division clubs took place amid a massive security operation with around 5,000 police officers stationed in concentric circles around the northern part of the capital.
The final was briefly thrown into chaos when clashes broke out between Fiorentina fans inside the stadium and riot police next door.
The visitors dominated the early stages of the final, but Fiorentina goalkeeper Pietro Terracciano made two superb fingertip saves to deny Daniel Podence in the fourth minute of extra time and Stevan Jovetic in the sixth minute to keep his team in the match.
El Kabi, who scored a total of 11 goals in the competition, was barely able to play in this match due to Fiorentina's solid four-man defence.
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