Olympiacos has delivered a major reminder of their quality to the rest of the league after earning a massive victory over PAOK at their own home ground, allowing AEK to leap into first place as a result.
The Piraeus giants defeated the Thessaloniki side 1-4 at “Toumba” Stadium on Monday morning (AEDT) in the Greek Super League’s 23rd round, an important win that keeps them in the mix for the premiership.
The “red-whites” went ahead 29 minutes in through striker Fran Navarro after he tapped in from close range following a clever free kick set play, though the hosts made it 1-1 soon after with a quick counter-attack that concluded with an effort from winger Kiril Despodov (39’).
Olympiacos winger Daniel Podence produced a wonderful long shot into the top right to restore his club’s lead (54’) before a quick brace from substitute Ayoub El Kaabi (83’, 89’) wrapped up an outstanding success.
The result is an important one for the Piraeus team as a loss would have seen them fall to ten points off of top spot, with this victory taking them to just five points away.
AEK was the biggest beneficiary of PAOK’s loss as they won 3-0 against Kifisia at “Agia Sophia” ground to climb into first place for the first time this season.
The night started horribly for the visitors as centre half Vasilios Spinos was sent off for a straight red while also giving away a penalty in just the fourth minute.
Enosi striker Levi Garcia’s spot kick was kept out by goalkeeper Alexandros Anagnostopoulos (7’), though the star marksman would eventually find the back of the net with a diving header in the 19th minute and then again five minutes later with a simpler headed effort from close range.
Midfielder Robert Ljubicic polished off a comfortable win for the “yellow-blacks” with a headed goal in the dying minutes of the contest (90+3’), his first since joining the club last month.
A double from captain Pedro Conde guided Giannina to a crucial 1-2 away triumph to narrow the gap against their fellow relegation rivals.
Conde put the visitors ahead on the half hour mark with a finish from close range following a corner, but winger Jasin Assehnoun soon cancelled it out with an impressive free kick goal (47’).
The Epirutans’ captain stepped up once more in the 72nd minute, again knocking the ball in from close range to bring his team within one point of 12th placed Volos on the ladder (adding extra intrigue into the relegation scrap ahead of the play-outs).
Panathinaikos suffered a disappointing 2-2 home draw on Sunday morning to a Lamia outfit that played over 50 mins with only ten men.
The Fthiotida side were given a major disadvantage when winger Ruben Martinez committed a red card offence in the 39th minute, though they remarkably managed to score first through a strike from former Greens striker Carlitos (45+1’).
The Trifylli equalised minutes later, thanks to a strike from winger Bernard (45+3’), with substitute striker Alexander Jeremejeff then giving them the lead (59’).
Winger Sotiris Tsiloulis brought it level again in the 68th minute with a headed finish, with neither side able to find a winner.
Aris recorded an important 0-2 away success over Atromitos to significantly boost their odds of ensuring a play-offs spot.
League top scorer Loren Moron successfully converted his spot-kick to give Aris the lead (33’) before midfielder Vladimir Darida struck again deep into injury time to seal the three points (90+4’).
The two remaining games in this round will take place on Tuesday morning between OFI-Panserraikos and Asteras Tripolis-Panetolikos.
Greek Super League Ladder (teams with games in hand)
1-AEK: 52
2-PAOK: 51
3-Panathinaikos: 51
4-Olympiacos: 47
5-Aris: 38
6-Lamia: 34
7-Asteras Tripolis: 29 (22)
8-Panserraikos: 23 (22)
9-Atromitos: 23
10-OFI: 20 (22)
11-Panetolikos: 18 (22)
12-Volos: 17
13-Kifisia: 16
14-PAS Giannina: 16
