Olympiacos draw no home comforts

By Vassiliki Papantonopoulou

Ethniki Kategoria leaders Olympiacos CFP were held to a goalless draw by Xanthi FC as they failed to win at the Georgios Karaiskakis stadium for the first time, allowing Panathinaikos FC to close the gap at the top to five points.

Run ended
Olympiacos have not dropped a point at home since moving into the stadium at the start of the season - a record that extends to all competitions, including the UEFA Champions League - but lost that 100 per cent record against fourth-placed Xanthi. In a match played behind closed doors, Olympiacos, and particularly Ioannis Okkas, wasted numerous chances and Alexis Garpozis could have made them pay with a last-minute counterattack but failed to hit the target.

Katsouranis acrobatics
AEK Athens FC failed to capitalise on the slip, however, as they were held in another empty stadium at Panionios NFC. New signing Kostas Kiassos broke the deadlock with a sublime free-kick on seven minutes but AEK fought back and Kostas Katsouranis regained parity with an equally spectacular scissor-kick on 58 minutes. The visitors continued to press and Sotirios Konstantinidis hit the crossbar late on but they had to settle for a draw.

Gekas goals
The result saw AEK drop to third, a point behind Panathinaikos, who climbed to second after a convincing 5-1 win against lowly Apollon Kalamarias FC. New signing Theofanis Gekas was outstanding, scoring twice and setting up Michalis Konstantinou for one of his two goals. Ioannis Goumas was the other goalscorer while Silva Cleiton scored Kalamarias's consolation.

Ergotelis point
The side still dropped to second from bottom as Ergotelis FC earned a valuable point at Aris Thessaloniki FC. It could have been even better for the visitors, who took a 43rd-minute lead through Patrick Ogunsoto before Ioannis Lazanas levelled matters after the interval. The 1-1 draw nevertheless lifted the side two points above bottom side Kerkira FC, who also took the lead before succumbing to a 3-1 loss against OFI Crete FC.

Fortuzi first
Halkidona FC were defeated by the same scoreline at Kallithea FC, as they dropped to ninth, a place above Iraklis FC who edged a closely fought derby against PAOK FC. Albanian midfield player Indrit Fortuzi scored the only goal of the game and his first for the club following a fine run from Pantelis Kapetanos. Elsewhere, the match between Ionikos FC and Egaleo FC ended 1-1.