Leader held to scoreless draw
Mali goalkeeper Mahamadou Sidibe made a series of key saves in the dying minutes Saturday to help Aegaleo pull off a surprise 0-0 draw against Greek league leader Panathinaikos. AEK, on 10 points from four games following yesterday’s 2-1 away win against Iraklis in Thessaloniki, now shares top spot with Panathinaikos. Second-place Olympiakos beat last-place Ergotelis 2-0 to move within one point of the defending champions, Panathinaikos, and AEK. Giorgos Georgiadis and Giorgos Anatolakis scored a goal each. Also yesterday, lowly Aris lost 2-1 at home against Halkidona, now on nine points with Olympiakos. Kallithea, playing at home, drew 1-1 against PAOK, as did Appollon Kalamaria and Xanthi. Ionikos and newly promoted Kerkyra played to a scoreless draw. On Saturday, OFI beat Panionios 2-0 in Crete for its first victory of the season with goals from Tassos Triantafyllou in the 41st and former Ajax striker Nikos Machlas in the 60th. Panathinaikos, playing without injured playmaker Angelos Basinas and striker Dimitris Papadopoulos, had its first major scoring opportunity in the 18th minute. Michalis Constantinou’s clever back heel released Niren Demba inside the penalty area, but his shot was deflected for a corner. Aegaleo almost silenced 10,000 Panathinaikos supporters when Daniel Edusei’s free kick hit the crossbar in the 76th. Olympiakos, playing before a sold-out crowd at its newly built Karaiskaki Stadium, came close to opening the scoring against Ergotelis when a lob from the edge of the box by Brazilian star Rivaldo went narrowly over the bar. Olympiakos strengthened its hold as the match wore on. In the 40th, Haniotakis was unable to hold a shot from Rivaldo, and Georgiadis was there to slide the ball home for a 1-0 lead. It was Georgiadis’s second league goal of the season. Olympiakos extended its lead in the 68th after stopper Anatolakis headed in a cross by Argentine defender Gabriel Shurrer. (AP)
