Kairat Almaty 0-1 Olympiacos: Martins strikes late to seal first Champions League win

Olympiacos sealed their first win of the 2025-26 Champions League campaign as Gelson Martins' 73rd-minute winner was enough to beat Kairat Almaty 1-0 on Tuesday. 

Both sides knew the importance of a win if they were to finish inside the play-off places, and Olympiacos got themselves over the line to sit two points adrift of the play-off places. 

Jose Luis Mendilibar's side were dominant from the start, and only a Temirlan Anarbekov save stopped Ayoub El Kaabi's header from opening the scoring in the 19th minute. 

El Kaabi then had the ball in the back of the net three minutes later when he smartly turned Chiquinho's cross across the six-yard box home, but the goal was ruled out for offside. 

Olympiacos continued to turn the screw in the first half but without reward, with the influential El Kaabi seeing his left-footed shot brilliantly tipped around the post by Anarbekov. 

Both sides struggled to create any clear-cut chances after the break, but the deciding moment came with 17 minutes to play at Astana Arena thanks to Martins' near-post finish. 

After being played into the box by Mehdi Taremi, Martins took his time before wrapping a right-footed strike past Anarbekov, who will perhaps feel he should have done better.

El Kaabi should have made sure of the three points in the 90th minute, but after rounding Anarbekov and with the whole goal to aim at, his shot struck the base of the left post. 

Data Debrief: Olympiacos end Champions League woes

Olympiacos were winless in their last 10 Champions League matches coming into this match, their second-longest such run without a victory in a major European competition, but they were able to end that stretch here. 

Their performance perhaps merited more in terms of the scoreline, with the visitors registering an expected goals (xG) total of 2.37 from their 20 shots compared to Kairat's measly 0.2 from their five attempts at Konstantinos Tzolakis' net. 

Indeed, Olympiacos also achieved their first away win in the Champions League since October 2015 (1-0 v Dinamo Zagreb), ending a run of 12 straight defeats on the road. It was also their first away clean sheet since that win over Dinamo Zagreb, having shipped 36 goals across their previous 12 (three per game).

And they have Martins to thank. He has now scored two goals in his last three Champions League appearances for Olympiacos, more than he managed in his first 16 games in the competition combined (one for Sporting CP in September 2017 against his current team).