Crucial derby tomorrow
After an eventful weekend of soccer that saw Olympiakos and Panathinaikos come from behind to score precious wins, all eyes are now turning toward tomorrow’s big derby between AEK and Olympiakos. The game had been postponed from late August due to the forest fires around Attica and will kick off at 9.15 p.m. at the Olympic Stadium in Athens. The match is crucial for both sides. AEK is coming from its first draw in the league, after failing to beat newly promoted PAS Giannina away on Sunday (1-1), even though it was leading 1-0 when the hosts were reduced to 10 men. It also suffered a heavy loss at Everton (4-0) last Thursday for the Europa League and will need to recover as soon as possible. «The match with Olympi-akos is our big opportunity to show our great potential,» said AEK coach Dusan Bajevic in a public statement, asking for the fans’ support too. Olympiakos, on the other hand, is coming from a glorious comeback in Thessaloniki where it beat PAOK 2-1 at the Toumba Stadium. Despite missing several key players, the champion overturned PAOK’s 1-0 advantage to score with Diogo and Avraam Papadopoulos and return to Piraeus with all three points in the bag. Tomorrow’s match has additional significance for the Reds, as it will likely be their first with its new Brazilian manager Zico on the bench. Also tomorrow (at 7 p.m.) Panionios is hosting PAOK. Panathinaikos fought hard on Sunday to maintain its 100 percent record after four games in the league, beating visiting Aris Thessaloniki 2-1. The Greens fell behind to a Ronaldo Guiaro goal but recovered to score through a Sebastian Abreu own goal and a Costas Katsouranis winner. Panathinaikos leads the table with 12 points, while Asteras Tripolis is a surprise second with eight, after downing Panionios 3-1 away. Elsewhere, Levadiakos led 2-0 but Ergotelis started scoring only after getting reduced to 10 men, to snatch a 2-2 draw; Iraklis defeated visiting Larissa 2-1; Xanthi beat Panthrakikos 1-0 in the Thrace derby and Kavala moved up to a joint third by seeing off Atromitos 2-1 at home.
