After last Sunday’s outing, my friend and I were left wanting more. We decided to do another triple, but this time in the Piraeus league. Sundays are particularly good for catching multiple games in Athens, as the kick-off times are more varied. Piraeus is rather far from where I live, but once you get there, the distances between different grounds are short. It’s still an area that feels alien to me, as I never happen to be there.

We took the metro and headed from Korydallos station to the first match of the day in Nikaia, a suburb of Piraeus. The ground is next to a nice grove, as well as a big, strange, futuristic building that we later found out is part of the University of Piraeus. The stadium and its surroundings aren’t the most charming, but they do have some character.

The crowd in the stand was small, and no one seemed to care about the game that much. The players of both teams all looked relatively young, and the game was quite physical. At some point in the beginning of the game, the referee awarded the home side an indirect free kick and showed the opposition’s goalkeeper a yellow card because he dared to request a new football, as the one in play was floppy (it actually was). Falirikos didn’t manage to score, but that has to be the most bizarre referee decision ever, as well as the first time I saw an indirect free kick live. The game was fairly balanced and could have ended in a draw, but Falirikos ultimately made better use of their chances and scored once in each half.