Panathinaikos joins Olympiakos at top

Piraeus side surrenders clear lead with 1-1 away draw against PAOK as rival beats Panionios 1-0; third-placed AEK a point behind

Though managing to emerge undefeated for a seventh successive season from PAOK’s fiery Toumba Stadium in Thessaloniki yesterday, Olympiakos surrendered its two-point lead at the top of the Greek first division with a 1-1 draw. Challenger Panathinaikos, which defeated Panionios 1-0 away, joined Oympiakos at the top, but the Piraeus side leads on goal difference.

With nine rounds of play remaining, the perennial rivals are now tied on 45 points each in a competition that appears headed for a thrilling end. Third-placed AEK, which lies just a point behind the joint front-runners following a 1-0 win over Aris, faces Olympiakos at the Piraeus club’s Karaiskaki Stadium next week for a crack at the top spot.

Oympiakos, facing a charged-up PAOK team eager to make amends for a heavy 5-1 loss earlier this season as well as a zealous capacity home crowd, silenced all by opening the scoring in the 22nd minute with a penalty kick converted by Predrag Djordjevic. Defender Dimitris Mavrogenidis was brought down in the box by Ifeanyi Udeze. The match was disrupted for close to five minutes after a cluster of PAOK supporters stormed the pitch.

Playing without Brazilian forward Rivaldo, Olympiakos dominated the first half and forced the hosts on the defensive from kickoff. Cyprus striker Yiannis Okkas and Brazilian playmaker Giovanni posed a constant threat while Grigoris Georgatos found space to attack freely down the left flank.

The visitors nearly scored in the eighth minute when Okkas’s curling shot from the six-yard box forced a fingertip save from PAOK goalkeeper Kyriakos Tohouroglou.

PAOK, however, began pressuring for an equalizer and came extremely close right before the halftime whistle with a firm strike by midfielder Panayiotis Egomitis that was cleared off the line by Olympiakos defender Giorgos Anatolakis.

But it did not take PAOK too much longer to level. The equalizer came just two minutes into the second half. An incisive pass by defender Evangelos Koutsopoulos sent teammate Dimitris Salpigidis through the visitor’s defense with just the keeper Antonis Nikopolidis to beat. He successfully slotted the ball away to the right.

Six minutes later, Nikopolidis needed to produce a heroic double save to deprive PAOK of the encounter’s lead.

The league’s top scorer Fanis Gekas scored Panathinaikos’s winner against Panionios in the 27th minute for his 14th goal this season.

On yet another occasion this season, AEK striker Nikos Lymberopoulos provided the winning goal for his club. Lymberopoulos struck in the 74th minute to give AEK a 1-0 win over a stubborn Aris team that is hovering just above the relegation zone.

Provincial power Xanthi continued its relentless run toward next season’s UEFA Cup with a 2-0 home win over Aegaleo that strengthens its hold of fourth place in the standings.

Reflecting its overall dominance, Xanthi scored a goal in each half beginning with Luciano, the league’s second-highest scorer. He found the net for the 12th time this season with his seemingly favorite scoring method, the free kick. Luciano left Aegaleo goalie Mahamadou Sidibe stranded with an immaculately struck free kick in the 39th minute. Alexandros Garpozis sealed Xanthi’s victory in the 69th minute with a shot from inside the box.

In other games yesterday, it was: Hakidona-Ergotelis, 2-0; Kerkyra-Apollon Kalamaria, 0-2; and Iraklis-Ionikos, 2-0. On Saturday, it was: OFI-Kallithea, 1-1. (Kathimerini, AP)