Nottingham Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis celebrates Olympiacos’ 4-2 victory against Aston Villa by visiting fans at the Villa Park pitch

Nottingham Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis was seen walking onto the pitch at full time after his Olympiacos side held on to seal a 4-2 win over Aston Villa in the Europa Conference League semi-final.

The shipping and media tycoon owns both Premier League side Olympiacos and Portuguese side Rio Ave, and was spotted congratulating visiting supporters inside Villa Park after the Greek side survived a resurgence from Unai Emery’s side.

Villa, who have enjoyed a sensational season finishing fourth in the Premier League table, are on the verge of reaching their first European final since winning the European Cup in 1982.

But Olympiacos put a huge damper on their hopes of winning silverware this season, with Ayoub El Kaabi scoring twice in the first 30 minutes of the match to give the visitors a commanding lead. Euro hopeful Olli Watkins would score a goal for Villa just before half-time after being played through on goal by Moussa Diaby.

Despite Villa’s resurgence, El Kaabi and Santiago Hezze hit back with a goal each, restoring the visitors’ two-goal lead. Douglas Luiz had a chance to pull a goal back from the penalty spot, but deflected his shot wide of the right post.

Evangelos Marinakis was pictured on the pitch as his Olympiacos side beat Aston Villa

He walked towards the Olympiacos fans and celebrated by pumping his fist in the air.

Marinakis, meanwhile, was involved in Nottingham Forest’s explosive rant against Premier League officials following their 2-0 defeat to Everton. He was allegedly behind the social media post put out by the club which sparked outrage across the league.

The Greek entrepreneur became owner of Nottingham Forest in May 2017, following a £50 million buyout of the two-time European Cup winner.

The 56-year-old previously took charge of Olympiacos in 2010 following the country’s financial crisis, and as club president the team won the Greek top flight seven times.

He said he bought the club because of his love for Olympiacos, which would hold a “special place in his heart”.

This was evident on Thursday, as the club’s owner walked to celebrate and hug the Olympiacos fans left behind after the epic match.

Under Marinakis, the club has seen a roster turnover in recent times, and has attracted big names from the world of football to its ranks, including Marcelo and James Rodriguez.

Meanwhile, his other club Forest are currently at risk of relegation and also face a four-point deduction for breaching the Premier League’s profit and sustainability rules – something they are appealing.

Marinakis took over Forest in May 2017 and oversaw them achieving promotion to the Premier League.

The Olympiacos owner has also been at the center of Forest’s explosive social media posts.

The Greek media mogul owns three clubs, including Nottingham Forest and Olympiacos.

Nottingham Forest said in an explosive statement that they had warned PGMOL not to have Attwell as their VAR on Sunday.

Ayoub El Kaabi scored twice in 30 minutes to give the visitors the lead during the match.

Olympiacos fans were in full voice at Villa Park for the Europa Conference League semi-final

Forest raised eyebrows last week after taking to social media to denounce several refereeing penalty decisions during the match, while also questioning the allegiance of the games VAR, who was reportedly a Luton fan.

The explosive message on

“We were warned by the PGMOL that the VAR was a Luton fan before the game but they didn’t change it. Our patience was tested on several occasions.

“NFFC will now consider its options,” he adds.

Referee chief Howard Webb eventually admitted that Forest should have been awarded a penalty in their favor during the match and it was also confirmed that Forest would receive audio from the VAR recordings of the match.

Many in the Premier League have given their thoughts on Forest’s antics on Twitter, including Pep Guardiola who ‘absolutely disagreed’ with Marinakis’ side’s accusations of bias against the Premier League.

After going down 2-0, Unai Emery’s side staged a sensational comeback to move back level at 2-2.

Ollie Watkins scored before half-time before adding a second goal after the break.

“I absolutely disagree,” Guardiola said. “The referees want to do their job as best as possible. They feel the pressure, we put pressure on them for the passion of the game in the moment.

“But when I sit here and think, they are trying to do their best and are under the surveillance of the cameras over there. When they make a mistake, they feel bad. That’s normal.

“They do the work, they want to do it well. The game is so difficult, it’s quick and fast, decisions have to be made in an instant. It is not easy.’