SPORTS

A disheartened Olympiakos fights back

Felix Borja scored the winning goal in the 87th minute last night to give host Olympiakos a 3-2 win over Aegaleo and help the defending champions extend their lead in the Greek league. Itaniel Sezarek scored two goals to give Aegaleo the lead, but Yiannis Okkas and Julio Cesar scored for Olympiakos to level the score before Borja got the winner. Olympiakos leads the league with 36 points, five more than both AEK and Panathinaikos. AEK played to a 0-0 draw at Xanthi, while Panathinaikos beat Larissa 1-0 Saturday. The Piraeus club went into the game undoubtedly beleaguered by its latest failure to go beyond the Champions League’s group stage. A 1-1 home draw against Shakhtar Donetsk last Tuesday night left Olympiakos in last place in the Champions League’s Group D and out of European club-level competition entirely. The Piraeus club, which has failed to transfer its domestic dominance over the past decade to the Champions League, was hoping for a win over its Ukrainian visitor and third place in the group, which would have secured it a place in the less prestigious UEFA Cup. Adding to the Piraeus club’s misery, local rivals AEK and Panathinaikos are among the competition’s last 32. Olympiakos fans, reacting to their team’s midweek failure, turned up in poor numbers to yesterday’s home game. Karaiskaki Stadium, usually a sellout, was less than half-full. Chants against the Olympiakos players, administration and coach were heard before, during and after the Piraeus team’s comeback. Aegaleo took the lead in the 22nd when Christos Moustoyiannis dribbled past Olympiakos goalkeeper Antonis Nikopolidis and served to Sezarek in front of an open goal. Olympiakos took control of possession, with Haruna Babangida and Nery Castillo missing from close range before Sezarek struck again in the 50th with a header. Sustained pressure by Olympiakos was rewarded in the 60th when Okkas scored off a low cross by Castillo. In the 82nd, Cesar leaped above a pack of defenders and made it 2-2 with a thumping header. At Xanthi, AEK was unable to break through the host’s tight defense and settled for a goalless draw. The Athens club started lively and Nikos Liberopoulos hit the post in the eighth. Xanthi almost snatched a late winner in the 86th when an unmarked Giorgos Barkoglou headed narrowly wide. Also yesterday, it was: Apollon 1, Aris 1; Ergotelis 1, Kerkyra 1; Panionios 1, OFI 0; and PAOK 0, Atromitos 3. (Kathimerini, AP)

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