Panathinaikos and Olympiacos split points in hard-fought stalemate
Source: NEOS KOSMOS
The two “eternal enemies” of Hellenic football were forced to share the spoils after a fierce battle that concluded with just ten players on the field for each side.
The Piraeus giants played out a 1-1 draw with the “Trifylli” at “Georgios Karaiskakis” stadium on Monday morning (AEDT) in the Greek Super League’s 20th round, with the league leaders displaying excellent fight to secure a point despite playing the second half a man down.
The “red-whites” had the Greens on the back foot in the beginning of the clash, scoring a well-earned goal in the 14th minute when Rodinei delivered an excellent free kick ball in for teammate David Carmo to guide into the net with his chest.
The “Trifylli” managed to wrestle back some control in the latter part of the first half, with it capped off by Olympiacos defender Costinha’s red card following a lengthy VAR check which found him to have been the last man when he fouled winger Filip Djuricic (45+2′).
Panathinaikos eventually levelled the contest in the 74th minute after captain Fotis Ioannidis kept his composure and finished his penalty kick gently down the middle.
The two sides searched for a winner to no avail with the game’s last noteworthy moment being Greens centre half Sverrir Ingason’s send-off for a second yellow card (90+4′).
PAOK battled hard to earn a narrow 1-0 win against Levadiakos at “Toumba” Stadium, thanks largely to midfielder Mady Camara’s headed goal in the 82nd minute.
Aris has finally snapped their four-game winless streak with a timely success against Lamia, beating the Fthiotida side 0-2 at “Athanasios Diakos” ground.
The Thessaloniki side was spurred to victory by their star striker, Loren Moron, with the Spaniard bagging a second-half brace (66′, 79′) to seal maximum points for the first time in over a month.
Lamia finished the game with ten players due to an 89th minute straight red to winger Gustavo Furtado, adding another blow to their horrid campaign thus far.
AEK earned a 1-0 win against Panetolikos at “Agia Sophia” Stadium on Sunday morning to get their revenge from their loss in the reverse fixture, with the result also allowing them to close the gap between themselves and Olympiacos to four points.
The victory came courtesy of winger Anthony Martial’s winning strike in the 56th minute, which ensured Enosi went back to winning ways after their loss to Panathinaikos last round.
Asteras Tripolis downed Kallithea 1-0 at home to keep their remarkable run of form intact, with it marking it seven victories on the trot in all competitions.
The Arcadians went ahead in the 22nd minute of the contest via captain Nikolaos Kaltsas, who released an excellent strike on his weaker right foot from outside the box into the goal.
The Athenian outfit finished the game with ten players following the expulsion of Francois Mughe in the 87th minute.
OFI solidified their place in the fifth-eighth zone on the table with a thrilling 3-2 home success against Panserraikos.
The Cretans were the first to score through winger Thiago Nuss (6′), though it was soon cancelled out by Panserraikos’ chief marksman Jefte Betancor (23′).
Nuss stepped up again right before the break, this time heading the ball into the net to restore his side’s advantage (45+1′).
OFI managed to build on it in the second period when right back Borja Gonzalez took a shot from an insanely tight angle, sneaking the ball past goalkeeper Luka Gugeshashvili into the bottom right corner (61′).
The Serres side halved the deficit through forward Juan Salazar in the 75th minute, and the Cretans had to weather the storm late when Nuss was sent off for a second yellow (89′).
The hosts successfully protected their one-goal lead to ascend into seventh place, one point above Panetolikos.
Atromitos have strengthened their push for a top eight finish after sealing an impressive 0-1 away triumph over Volos on Saturday morning.
The Peristeriotes were given a major setback early into the second half when forward Carlitos was sent off after elbowing a Volos player (51′), though they somehow managed to strike first following centre half Mansur’s corner header (81′).
The goal proved enough to secure the points, putting them on 25 in total and just one away from eighth-placed Panetolikos.
Greek Super League Ladder
1. Olympiacos: 44
2. AEK: 40
3. Panathinaikos: 40
4. PAOK: 37
5. Asteras Tripolis: 31
6. Aris: 31
7. OFI: 27
8. Panetolikos: 26
9. Atromitos: 25
10. Panserraikos: 21
11. Volos: 20
11. Levadiakos: 18
13. Kallithea: 15
14. Lamia: 9
The original article: belongs to NEOS KOSMOS .
