Olympiacos hit top gear to sink Hertha

Olympiacos CFP came through a test of nerve with flying colours as they won 4-0 against Hertha BSC Berlin in a game they needed only to draw to move on to the UEFA Cup Round of 32.

Hertha eliminated
Second-half goals from Dudu, Luciano Galletti, Vassilis Torosidis and Diogo Luis Santo saw Ernesto Valverde's side make amends for 1-0 away losses against Galatasaray AŞ and FC Metalist Kharkiv earlier in the group stage, but defeat proved to be the end of the road for Hertha, with Lucien Favre's side finishing fourth in the section with just two points.

No way back
Hertha were sporadically dangerous in the first half despite the absences of Andriy Voronin and Gojko Kačar, with Cicero Santos testing Antonis Nikopolidis with a right-footed shot on 39 minutes that the goalkeeper had to tip round the post. However, there was no way back for the German side after Dudu headed home from Predrag Djordjević's sweetly-flighted free-kick after 55 minutes.

Final flourish
Hertha keeper Jarsolav Drobný did well to deny Galletti after the Argentinian cut in from the left a few minutes later, but could do little to deny him as he finished from the penalty spot after a foul on Dudu. It seemed the game might end at 2-0 but the Greek champions found another gear in the final three minutes. First, Torosidis stole in to score after good work on the right from substitute Sebastian Leto before Diogo slid in to convert from Didier Domi's accurate cross from the left.