Panathinaikos push Olympiacos

By Vassiliki Papantonopoulou

Michalis Konstantinou scored a dramatic late winner as Panathinaikos FC rescued three points against newly promoted Ergotelis FC, but they remain second after leaders Olympiacos CFP silenced a lively Apollon Kalamarias FC side elsewhere in Athens.

Ergotelis resolve
Cypriot striker Konstantinou found the target with a close-range shot in the 89th minute as a tenacious Ergotelis side finally succumbed after repelling wave after wave of the Greek champions' attacks. Panathinaikos had been at risk of falling five points behind Olympiacos - against whom they lost last weekend - but instead climb to second, while Ergotelis are still bottom.

Georgatos volley
Olympiacos were also far from fluent and needed goals at the end of each half to earn a 2-0 victory against an energetic Kalamarias team. Nery Castillo broke the deadlock on the stroke of half-time and only superb defending prevented Kalamarias from restoring parity before Grigorios Georgatos settled frayed nerves with a 90th-minute volley.

Tziortziopoulos blow
AEK Athens FC maintained their unbeaten start to the season but lost ground on the leaders after they were held to a 1-1 draw at high-flying FC Xanthi, in a game that saw full-back Stavros Tziortziopoulos carried off with a fractured leg that could sideline him for four months. The visitors went behind to Luciano de Souza's expertly executed free-kick just after the interval but Leonidas Kabantais earned a share of the spoils with 18 minutes remaining as AEK drop to third.

Panionios power
Panionios NFC scored their first away goal of the season en route to their first away win but it came in controversial fashion against Iraklis FC in Thessaloniki. Evangelos Mantzios scored the only goal of the game with a close-range shot on 27 minutes but many of the home supporters had expected the ball to be kicked out of play with a visiting player lying injured. Kerkyra, meanwhile, recorded their first-ever away win in the Alpha Ethniki, 2-1 at Kallithea.

Disparate draws
Elsewhere, Ionikos FC and Halkidona FC shared the spoils in Athens, while Egaleo FC were held to a drab stalemate by Aris Thessaloniki FC, who are now second from bottom. But Aris' city rivals PAOK FC were involved in a far more entertaining 2-2 draw against OFI Crete FC in Heraklion. The visitors broke the deadlock with a Dimitris Salpingidis penalty on 18 minutes, but the home side fought back, and overturned the scoreline with spectacular strikes from Nikolaos Machlas and Nikos Kounenakis either side of half time. Christos Maladenis then earned PAOK a draw and tenth place in the league with less than six minutes remaining.