SPORTS

Panathinaikos lets lead slip away

Panathinaikos failed to hold on to a 2-0 lead against AEK but managed to retain first place after the fourth round of the Greek championship. Grigoris Georgatos struck twice, at the end of the first and the second half, respectively, to salvage a 2-2 draw for AEK. The match was played at the Nea Smyrni stadium, as AEK’s own field is under reconstruction. Panathinaikos dominated most of the first half, scoring twice through defenders Sotiris Kyrgiakos and Takis Fyssas, in the 19th and 28th minute, respectively. It almost scored a third goal before AEK started its comeback with Georgatos’s first goal, in the 43rd minute. Panathinaikos defender Yourkas Seitaridis protested that Georgatos was offside and got booked with a yellow card. Within a minute, he committed a bad foul on Georgatos and was sent off, leaving his team to play with 10 players the whole of the second half. AEK surged forward and missed several chances. The best was a penalty shot by Vassilis Tsiartas, which was saved by Panathinaikos’s goalkeeper, Costas Halkias, in the 82nd minute. Five minutes later, however, Halkias was unable to block Georgatos’s shot. Before the match, AEK and Panathinaikos fans clashed outside the stadium. Panathinaikos now leads with 10 points, with AEK two points behind. In other matches yesterday: Olympiakos 1, Paniliakos 0; PAOK 0, Proodeftiki 0; Ionikos 0, Iraklis 1; OFI 3, Halkidona 1; Akratitos 0, Aegaleo 2. On Saturday, Aris beat Xanthi 3-2 and Kallithea and Panionios drew 2-2.

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