AEK takes major step toward the title
Vassilis Tsartas netted a goal and set up two others to give AEK a 3-0 win over Aris in Thessaloniki yesterday, in a major step toward gaining Greece’s first division soccer title. But the match was marred by violence and interrupted for 20 minutes after Aris supporters ripped up seats and threw them onto the pitch at Harilaou Stadium and started a fire in the stands. Police detained 19 youths, after home fans started fights outside the stadium and stormed the team’s offices. No injuries were reported and the fire was quickly put out. The trouble came two weeks after Panathinaikos fans rioted during a game and a referee was badly beaten, prompting league organizers to penalize the Athens club. AEK strengthened its position at the top of the 14-team standings after second-placed Olympiakos was humbled by a 2-2 draw at home with lowly Akratitos. With three league games remaining, AEK has 52 points, three clear of Olympiakos. Panathinaikos is third with 43 points but has a match in hand. League organizers accepted a request by Panathinaikos to postpone a game on Saturday against Ionikos to let players rest for a game against giant FC Barcelona in Spain on Tuesday, in the quarter-finals of the Champions League. The Greek club won the first-leg 1-0 in Athens on Wednesday. No date was set for the delayed league match. In other action yesterday it was: Iraklis 3, Panachaiki 0; Panionios 2, Xanthi 0; OFI 4, PAOK 1 and Ethnikos Asteras 1, Aegaleo 0. Yugoslav striker Ilija Ivic, who moved to AEK from Aris in January, gave the Athens club the lead off a cross from Tsartas in the 12th minute. Five minutes later, Tsartas grabbed his 13th goal of the season with a free kick. The hosts fought back after the rest period, but AEK increased the score. In the 72nd minute, international striker Demis Nikolaidis made the final 3-0, again fed by Tsartas. Nikolaidis, scoring his 14th goal of the season, now shares the top spot of Greek first division scorers with Olympiakos’s Alexis Alexandris. Olympiakos suffered a major blow in the opening minutes of its match against Akratitos when keeper Dimitris Eleftheropoulos collided with his defender Dimitris Mavrogenidis and was carried off the pitch on a stretcher with a dislocated shoulder. He was replaced by Angelos Georgiou. Seeking its 15th win of the season to keep pace with AEK, Olympiakos charged forward from kickoff. They took the lead in the 12th with Mavrogenidis off a cross from Brazilian striker Giovanni. The goal was followed by a series of missed opportunities by Olympiakos, including two shots on goalminder Dimitris Raptis’s bars. Akratitos, promoted to the first division this season, leveled with Christos Iliopoulos in the 39th minute. Predrag Djordjevic converted a penalty in the 77th to again give Olympiakos the lead. But 10 minutes later, Iliopoulos stunned over 10,000 Olympiakos supporters and struck again to force the defending champions to their seventh draw of the season. (AP)
