Panathinaikos back in business

By Vassiliki Papantonopoulou

Panathinaikos FC’s 1-0 win at Panionios NFC allowed them to move level on points with Greek leaders Olympiacos CFP after they were held to a 1-1 draw at PAOK Thessaloniki.

Olympiacos frustrated
Olympiacos took the lead on 22 minutes with a penalty from Predrag Djordjevic, after Ifeani Udeze had brought down Dimitrios Mavrogenidis. However, PAOK equalised two minutes into the second half when captain Dimitrios Salpingidis beat Olympiacos goalkeeper Antonios Nikopolidis having been put through one-on-one.

Gekas strikes
Consequently, defending champions Panathinaikos now have the same number of points as their arch-rivals having wiped out a seven-point gap in the space of a month after a third 1-0 victory in the three matches Alberto Malesani has been coach. Panionios were defeated this time as the league's top goalscorer Theofanis Gekas scored his 14th goal of the season with a fine individual effort.

Lyberopoulos winner
AEK Athens FC also kept up the pressure at the top with a 1-0 win against Aris Thessaloniki FC and are now only one point off top spot. Nikolaos Lyberopoulos’s header from a Bruno Alves assist in the 74th minute proved the difference and sets them up nicely for their game against Olympiacos next weekend.

Relegation fears
Defeat for Aris keeps them embroiled in the relegation battle, especially after 15th-placed Apollon Kalamarias FC moved level with them on 19 points having emerged victorious in the vital relegation encounter with bottom-side Kerkira FC. Giuseppe Junior Vela gave Kalamarias the lead on ten minutes and it got worse for Kerkira when Georgios Koltzos was dismissed for a professional foul on Hariloas Pappas. Pappas eventually sealed Kalamarias’s first away win this season in added time with a powerful shot from the edge of the area.

Ionikos troubled
Also on 19 points are Ergotelis FC, who lost 2-0 against Halkidona FC, courtesy of a Christos Iliopoulos strike and a Engasam Nana Falemi own goal. Ionikos FC stay one point away from the relegation zone after losing 2-0 at Iraklis FC, thanks to goals from Grigorios Papazaharias and Idrit Fortusi.

Three wins
Elsewhere, Luciano de Souza and Alexandros Garpozis’s goals against Egaleo FC gave Xanthi FC a third consecutive win, after the game was moved from Saturday to Sunday due to torrential rain, while OFI Crete FC and Kallithea FC played out a 1-1 draw.