Olympiakos wins league title

Piraeus club mathematically sure of title after Iraklis’s 1-0 win over Panathinaikos, now third

Olympiakos was assured of its ninth league soccer title in 10 seasons before going into action late last night, away, against Larissa, in Round 28’s final game of the 16-team Greek first division.

The Piraeus club’s mathematical certainty of another title came following Iraklis’s 1-0 home win against Panathinaikos earlier in the evening, a result that sent the visitor to third place and off Champions League territory, reserved for the top two clubs.

AEK moved back into second place with a 2-0 win at home against Cretan club OFI, which has now slipped into the relegation zone. The club lies third from last. Three teams get relegated.

On 69 points ahead of its encounter last night, Olympiakos stood six points ahead of second-place AEK, and with a better head-to-head record against its Athens rival, which would give the Piraeus team the advantage in the event of a tie.

AEK’s win over struggling OFI was constructed on the strength of a mighty first half of play that resulted in a 2-0 lead at half-time. AEK went ahead in the seventh minute with a goal from skipper Costas Katsouranis. Striker Nikos Lyberopoulos added his team’s second in the 34th minute.

Despite the growing threat of relegation, the Cretans were unable to respond to the two-goal deficit.

Panionios took advantage of OFI’s loss with a 3-1 away win against mid-table Atromitos to climb up a notch to fourth from last with 26 points, one more than OFI. In other games, it was: Akratitos, Apollon Kalamaria, 1-3; Kallithea, Xanthi, 2-1; and PAOK, Levadiakos, 3-1. On Saturday, Aegaleo and Ionikos drew 1-1.