Big guns get unconvincing wins
Without making an impression with their performances, Panathinaikos and Olympiakos remained on top of the soccer Super League table through victories against northern opposition that may feel hard done by. The Greens defeated visiting Panserraikos 2-0 on Saturday courtesy of goals by French players Jean-Alain Boumsong and Djibril Cisse, although Panserraikos dominated most of the game and deserved more than what it got. Cisse stretched his lead at the scorers’ chart to 13 goals. Olympiakos needed a 41st-minute penalty by Spanish midifleder David Fuster to see off high-flying Kavala away (1-0) yesterday, with the host missing a couple of glorious chances to get at least a point from a rather complacent visitor. AEK rose to third, but is now 10 points off pace after seeing Ismael Blanco’s goal at Peristeri being canceled out by Ilias Anastasakos’s equalizer for Atromitos one minute from time. PAOK spoiled the party for the opening of the new Larissa ground, the AEL FC Arena, as the Thessaloniki club came away with a 2-1 triumph on goals coming from Pablo Contreras and Stefanos Athanasiadis. Neighbor Aris saw off Asteras Tripolis 1-0 at home through a Darcy Neto goal from a direct freekick. Kerkyra returned to winning ways at its first game with ex-Olympiakos manager Bozidar Bandovic on its bench, defeating struggling Panionios 1-0 at Nea Smyrni. Iraklis drew 1-1 with Ergotelis and Xanthi beat Olympiakos Volou 1-0. Panathinaikos and Olympiakos have 30 points from 13 games, AEK and PAOK are joint third with 20, Kavala and Aris have 19, Xanthi follows with 17, Iraklis, Kerkyra and Olympiakos Volou have 16, Atromitos has 15, Asteras Tripolis, Ergotelis and Panserraikos are at 14, Panionios still has 13 and Larissa is last with 11 points. Panathinaikos is flying to Denmark this morning ahead of its last match for the Champions League group stage against Copenhagen (9.45 p.m., live on Mega). Panathinaikos has already been eliminated but is still looking for a European victory this season.
