Panathinaikos joined Olympiakos at the top of the Greek Super League in strange circumstances this weekend with their 1-1 home draw against Larisa.
The result however was not enough to save the job of Nikos Nioplias who left the team on Monday in a mutual decision between the coach and the club. Panathinaikos’ point against Larisa was enough to see them reach 21 points, the same as their bitter rivals.
Olympiakos however have a match in hand, or half a match at least as their game against Ergotelis was abandoned before the start of the second half due to a waterlogged pitch with the score 0-0. The Greek Super League will now arrange for that match to be finished at a later date.
PAOK recorded a fine 2-1 victory over AEK thanks to an injury-time strike by Portuguese winger Vierinha. The victory moved PAOK into 3rd spot with 17 points and dropped AEK to 4th place (16 points). Elsewhere, Atromitos scored a huge victory in a relegation duel against Panionios winning 1-0, Andreas Tatos with the solitary strike. Kerkyra and Xanthi played out a 1-1 draw to round out action on Saturday.
On Monday, three matches took place with the highest profile being the Thessaloniki derby where Iraklis defeated Aris 1-0. Kavala managed to secure a big away win with their 1-0 victory over Asteras Tripolis while Panserraikos and Olympiakos Volos played out a 2-2 draw.
Atromitos picked up a deserved 1-0 away win over troubled Panionios, plunging the Athens-based side further into a relegation struggle. Andreas Tatos scored the winning goal in the 35th minute as he dribbled to the top of the box and let loose with a low shot that beat Panionios goalkeeper Juergen Macho.
It should have been a more comfortable win for Giorgos Donis’ side who had chances to extend their lead, the best of the lot being Tatos’ 64th minute shot that came back off the post. Though they were outplayed for much of the match, Panionios could have snatched something from the game had Sito Riera’s half volley not hit the crossbar and bounced over late on.
Panionios now fall to last place in the league with the loss while Atromitos is up to 12th with 10 points.
Two injury-time goals was all the action in an otherwise poor 1-1 draw between Kerkyra and Xanthi. In a match of few chances, Kerkyra stole a point with Ivica Maijstorovic scoring an equalizer four minutes into added time.
In a forgettable match, the ending was what was memorable. Xanthi surely must have thought they had claimed three crucial points in their fight against the drop when Thodoris Vasilakakis finished from close range two minutes into injury time.
Just two minutes after that however, Kerkyra equalized through Maijstorovic’s bundled effort. The draw leaves Kerkyra on 13 points in 5th place, while Xanthi are in 15th place with 8 points.
Larisa continued their recent improvement with their 1-1 draw with Panathinaikos. Giannis Papakostas’ side took the lead in the 7th minute thanks to Daniel Cousin’s goal. Panathinaikos swiftly responded as Djibril Cisse blasted home his 8th goal of the season to bring the match back onto level terms.
Panathinaikos were below par throughout however and couldn’t take the initiative after the goal in order to push for another. Larisa meanwhile were giving little away and may have had a winner themselves had Stephen Makinwa finished a good chance after being set-up well by Cousin in the 76th minute.
Panathinaikos finally began to push forward toward the end, however Antonis Petropoulos saw his shot well-saved by Giorgos Abaris 10 minutes from time and then deep into added time Luis Garcia hit the post with a header.
Panathinaikos were booed off the pitch as fans were left frustrated by another disjointed display. The pressure is now beginning to build on Nikos Nioplias even though his club are now joint top with Olympiakos, though the latter still have to finish their match against Ergotelis.
Larisa meanwhile are in 11th, though confidence is high that they can keep climbing up the table after their fourth consecutive match without a defeat.
Vierinha’s injury-time winner settled matters at the Toumba Stadium as PAOK moved into 3rd place with a 2-1 win over AEK. The home side took the lead at the end of a first half that had precious few chances as Vierinha found the onrushing Giorgos Fotakis in the box and the midfielder finished past Sebastian Saha.
The second half saw AEK try to get back into the match and Manolo Jimenez’s team found an equalizer in the 68th minute from the penalty spot as Leonardo converted from 12 yards out after Rafik Djebbour was adjudged to have been taken down by PAOK goalkeeper Dario Kresic.
AEK were reduced to 10 men when Kostas Manolas was harshly given a red card in the 78th minute and PAOK found a way to make their numerical superiority count in the 93rd minute as Vierinha worked his way into the box and produced a sublime left-footed shot to send the home crowd into raptures.
It was the sixth straight win for PAOK under interim boss Makis Chavos and the team have turned around a season that looked lost. AEK continue to struggle with consistency and drop to 4th place on 16 points.
Kavala picked up a narrow 1-0 away victory at Asteras Tripolis to move up to joint 5th in the Super League standings alongside Iraklis. The goal that separated the two sides was scored by Benjamin Onwuachi in the 62nd minute, as he burst into the box to fire home after a lovely ball was played into his path by Djamel Abdoun. It was the Nigerian’s striker’s fifth goal of the season which puts him in second place in the league charts behind Djibril Cisse.
Kavala could have scored on the stroke of halftime, but the post denied Bartholomew Ogbeche’s header. The goal was perhaps the only memorable moment in a poor match that had few moments of class and very little in the way of chances. The loss drops Asteras Tripolis to 8th place in the standings with 13 points.
Karim Soltani’s 74th minute strike was all that Iraklis needed to ensure a derby day victory over Aris by a score of 1-0. The French-born Algerian Soltani’s goal had a hint of luck to it as it appeared to be an attempt at a cross which flew over Mihalis Sifakis in the Aris goal.
Aris were once again undone by their inability to score as Hector Cuper’s team have only 6 goals in the league this season. The club now find themselves in the heart of midtable and the toll of playing in Greece and Europe seems to be hurting the team.
Iraklis on the other hand are in 5th place with this win and looked much fresher and more likely to score throughout this match.
In a thrilling match in Serres, Panserraikos and Olympiakos played out an exciting 2-2 draw. In a match of two halves, Olympiakos Volos owned the first and goals from Juan Eduardo Martin (20th minute) and Javier Ubides (penalty, 45th minute) gave the away side a seemingly unassailable advantage.
Dragan Kokotovic’s team issued a positive response however in the second half as they rebounded to tie the match. The comeback was on when Nikola Beljic planted a header past Eldin Jakupovic in the 63rd minute. 16 minutes later, the home team were on level terms as a controversial penalty decision saw Leozinho finish from 12 yards bringing the match back to 2-2.
Volos will have felt aggrieved at not only the penalty decision, but also wasting their own opportunities to win the match. Elias Solakis could have made 3-0 just after halftime, however he managed to miss an open net and nine minutes from time Croat goalkeeper Velimir Radman made a superb instinct save to deny Martin and save a point for the Panserraikos.
Olympiakos however have a match in hand, or half a match at least as their game against Ergotelis was abandoned before the start of the second half due to a waterlogged pitch with the score 0-0. The Greek Super League will now arrange for that match to be finished at a later date.
PAOK recorded a fine 2-1 victory over AEK thanks to an injury-time strike by Portuguese winger Vierinha. The victory moved PAOK into 3rd spot with 17 points and dropped AEK to 4th place (16 points). Elsewhere, Atromitos scored a huge victory in a relegation duel against Panionios winning 1-0, Andreas Tatos with the solitary strike. Kerkyra and Xanthi played out a 1-1 draw to round out action on Saturday.
On Monday, three matches took place with the highest profile being the Thessaloniki derby where Iraklis defeated Aris 1-0. Kavala managed to secure a big away win with their 1-0 victory over Asteras Tripolis while Panserraikos and Olympiakos Volos played out a 2-2 draw.
Atromitos picked up a deserved 1-0 away win over troubled Panionios, plunging the Athens-based side further into a relegation struggle. Andreas Tatos scored the winning goal in the 35th minute as he dribbled to the top of the box and let loose with a low shot that beat Panionios goalkeeper Juergen Macho.
It should have been a more comfortable win for Giorgos Donis’ side who had chances to extend their lead, the best of the lot being Tatos’ 64th minute shot that came back off the post. Though they were outplayed for much of the match, Panionios could have snatched something from the game had Sito Riera’s half volley not hit the crossbar and bounced over late on.
Panionios now fall to last place in the league with the loss while Atromitos is up to 12th with 10 points.
Two injury-time goals was all the action in an otherwise poor 1-1 draw between Kerkyra and Xanthi. In a match of few chances, Kerkyra stole a point with Ivica Maijstorovic scoring an equalizer four minutes into added time.
In a forgettable match, the ending was what was memorable. Xanthi surely must have thought they had claimed three crucial points in their fight against the drop when Thodoris Vasilakakis finished from close range two minutes into injury time.
Just two minutes after that however, Kerkyra equalized through Maijstorovic’s bundled effort. The draw leaves Kerkyra on 13 points in 5th place, while Xanthi are in 15th place with 8 points.
Larisa continued their recent improvement with their 1-1 draw with Panathinaikos. Giannis Papakostas’ side took the lead in the 7th minute thanks to Daniel Cousin’s goal. Panathinaikos swiftly responded as Djibril Cisse blasted home his 8th goal of the season to bring the match back onto level terms.
Panathinaikos were below par throughout however and couldn’t take the initiative after the goal in order to push for another. Larisa meanwhile were giving little away and may have had a winner themselves had Stephen Makinwa finished a good chance after being set-up well by Cousin in the 76th minute.
Panathinaikos finally began to push forward toward the end, however Antonis Petropoulos saw his shot well-saved by Giorgos Abaris 10 minutes from time and then deep into added time Luis Garcia hit the post with a header.
Panathinaikos were booed off the pitch as fans were left frustrated by another disjointed display. The pressure is now beginning to build on Nikos Nioplias even though his club are now joint top with Olympiakos, though the latter still have to finish their match against Ergotelis.
Larisa meanwhile are in 11th, though confidence is high that they can keep climbing up the table after their fourth consecutive match without a defeat.
Vierinha’s injury-time winner settled matters at the Toumba Stadium as PAOK moved into 3rd place with a 2-1 win over AEK. The home side took the lead at the end of a first half that had precious few chances as Vierinha found the onrushing Giorgos Fotakis in the box and the midfielder finished past Sebastian Saha.
The second half saw AEK try to get back into the match and Manolo Jimenez’s team found an equalizer in the 68th minute from the penalty spot as Leonardo converted from 12 yards out after Rafik Djebbour was adjudged to have been taken down by PAOK goalkeeper Dario Kresic.
AEK were reduced to 10 men when Kostas Manolas was harshly given a red card in the 78th minute and PAOK found a way to make their numerical superiority count in the 93rd minute as Vierinha worked his way into the box and produced a sublime left-footed shot to send the home crowd into raptures.
It was the sixth straight win for PAOK under interim boss Makis Chavos and the team have turned around a season that looked lost. AEK continue to struggle with consistency and drop to 4th place on 16 points.
Kavala picked up a narrow 1-0 away victory at Asteras Tripolis to move up to joint 5th in the Super League standings alongside Iraklis. The goal that separated the two sides was scored by Benjamin Onwuachi in the 62nd minute, as he burst into the box to fire home after a lovely ball was played into his path by Djamel Abdoun. It was the Nigerian’s striker’s fifth goal of the season which puts him in second place in the league charts behind Djibril Cisse.
Kavala could have scored on the stroke of halftime, but the post denied Bartholomew Ogbeche’s header. The goal was perhaps the only memorable moment in a poor match that had few moments of class and very little in the way of chances. The loss drops Asteras Tripolis to 8th place in the standings with 13 points.
Karim Soltani’s 74th minute strike was all that Iraklis needed to ensure a derby day victory over Aris by a score of 1-0. The French-born Algerian Soltani’s goal had a hint of luck to it as it appeared to be an attempt at a cross which flew over Mihalis Sifakis in the Aris goal.
Aris were once again undone by their inability to score as Hector Cuper’s team have only 6 goals in the league this season. The club now find themselves in the heart of midtable and the toll of playing in Greece and Europe seems to be hurting the team.
Iraklis on the other hand are in 5th place with this win and looked much fresher and more likely to score throughout this match.
In a thrilling match in Serres, Panserraikos and Olympiakos played out an exciting 2-2 draw. In a match of two halves, Olympiakos Volos owned the first and goals from Juan Eduardo Martin (20th minute) and Javier Ubides (penalty, 45th minute) gave the away side a seemingly unassailable advantage.
Dragan Kokotovic’s team issued a positive response however in the second half as they rebounded to tie the match. The comeback was on when Nikola Beljic planted a header past Eldin Jakupovic in the 63rd minute. 16 minutes later, the home team were on level terms as a controversial penalty decision saw Leozinho finish from 12 yards bringing the match back to 2-2.
Volos will have felt aggrieved at not only the penalty decision, but also wasting their own opportunities to win the match. Elias Solakis could have made 3-0 just after halftime, however he managed to miss an open net and nine minutes from time Croat goalkeeper Velimir Radman made a superb instinct save to deny Martin and save a point for the Panserraikos.
