Dinos Mavropanos and Greece continued their perfect start to UEFA Nations League B Group 2 with a 2-0 home win over the Republic of Ireland on Sunday evening.
The West Ham United centre-back has been an ever-present as Greece have won all four of their ties to date, with the latest being a dominant victory over the Boys in Green at Karaiskakis Stadium in Piraeus.
The Hammer has been a regular starter for Greece in recent seasons and has made a fine start to the tenure of new manager Ivan Jovanović after the Serbian took charge in August this year. The 26-year-old now has 31 caps and two goals to his name since debuting in a friendly against Honduras in March 2021.
After securing an emotional and historic first-ever win over England at Wembley Stadium following the sudden death of full-back George Baldock last week, Greece were deserved winners again against Heimir Hallgrimsson’s side.
Partnering Copenhagen’s Pantelis Chatzidiakos at the heart of the defence, Mavropanos produced another impressive display as Greece kept their third clean sheet in four matches.
After Liverpool goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher had kept the home side at bay in the opening half, Greece captain and Panathinaikos midfielder Anastasios Bakasetas opened the scoring with a deflected shot on 48 minutes.
Ireland rallied after falling behind but could not find a way past Mavropanos and his teammates, with goalkeeper Odisseas Vlachodimos making an important save from Ipswich Town’s Jack Taylor.
The game was then settled a minute into added time when Kelleher passed the ball directly to substitute Petros Mantalos of AEK Athens, who rounded the goalkeeper and scored Greece’s second goal.
Previously, Mavropanos had helped Greece defeat Finland 3-0 on home turf at the Karaiskakis Stadium, before travelling to Dublin and overcoming the Republic of Ireland 2-0 at the Aviva Stadium during the September international break.
Those victories have taken Greece top of the B2 table with a perfect 12 points from 12, three points ahead of England. Republic of Ireland have three points and Finland zero after four match rounds.
Greece host England at the Olympic Stadium in Athens before travelling to Finland in the final two rounds in November. Should they top their group, Mavropanos and his compatriots will win promotion to League A for the 2026/27 Nations League season.
