Djordjevic raises Olympiacos spirit

Olympiacos CFP increased the gap at the top of the Hellenic National League to four points courtesy of a narrow 1-0 victory against Halkidona FC at the weekend.

Djordjevic penalty
The only goal of the game came from the penalty spot, when Predrag Djordjevic kept his cool in the 39th minute after Anderson Lima Freitas had brought down Tassos Pantos. Olympiacos face Juventus FC in the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday but can no longer qualify for the knockout stages.

No goals
Second-placed Panathinaikos FC are also out of Europe’s premier football competition and their goalless stalemate against Akratitos FC will have done nothing to boost the team’s confidence. The home side have the weakest defence in the top flight so it was a surprise that the visitors could not find a way through. The lack of potency in attack was almost certainly linked to the absence of injured top scorer Dimitris Papadopoulos.

In-form Egaleo
Egaleo FC, in third, had no such problems finding the net in their 3-1 home win against FC Aris Thessaloniki, extending their unbeaten run to eleven matches. A goal from 19-year-old Efthimis Pantelidis on his debut gave the visitors the lead but Giorgos Barkoglou scored twice and Giorgos Fotakis was also on target for the hosts.

Easy wins
FC PAOK comfortably overcame Panionios NFC 2-0 after Giorgos Koutsis' header opened the scoring and Giasemakis Giasemi doubled the lead in the 58th minute. AEK Athens FC strolled to a 3-0 defeat of Xanthi FC, taking the lead in the 16th minute through Nikos Lyberopoulos before Giannis Okkas made it 2-0 just past the half-hour mark. The third goal was a close-range effort from Vassilis Lakis.

Thrilling encounter
Ionikos FC were also big winners, defeating Paniliakos FC 4-2 at home in a thrilling encounter. The visitors went ahead in the eighth minute when Dimitris Arvanitis was on target from close range. An Oliver Macor header levelled the scores before Devanir Ferreira made it 2-1. Giannis Thomaidis then equalised but two goals from 36-year-old captain Giannis Xanthopoulos turned the encounter on its head.

Other games
Elsewhere, OFI Crete FC saw off Kallithea FC 2-1 with late goals from Tassos Triantafyllou and Pavlos Adamos making Nikos Skarmoutsos’ opener redundant. Iraklis FC defeated Proodeftiki FC by the same score thanks to two goals from Nikos Machlas.