The eternal derby in Athens had no winner as Panathinaikos proved too difficult to break down for Olympiacos, with the game at the Georgios Karaiskakis stadium ending in a 1-1 draw. The ‘red-and-whites’ were feeling confident after last Thursday’s 5-1 win against Dudelange for the Europa League and wanted to repeat their performance. Meanwhile, Giorgos Donis’ youngsters were out to gain experiences and had a nothing-to-lose mentality.

The game opened with Olympiacos holding onto possession of the ball, yet not being able to create many opportunities against goalkeeper Dioudis, as his defence was well organised. On the other hand, Panathinaikos seemed incapable of moving past the centre of midfield, with the pressure overwhelming them. In the only exciting moment of the first half, Fortounis and Podence combined nicely yet the latter wasn’t able to get the ball past the Panathinaikos keeper.

At half time, Egyptian forward Hassan had to be substituted due to injury for Olympiacos, with Lazaros Christodoulopoulos being introduced in his place. This substitution seemed to benefit the home team, as they came out putting even more pressure on their opposition. And on the 52nd minute, this pressure seemed to pay off, after Fortounis got into the area and fed a low cross from the right with Christodoulopoulos close behind to comfortably finish the job. However the goal was disallowed as Natkho got his knee onto Dioudis’ head in his effort to get to the ball, leaving the Panathinaikos keeper injured and unable to continue. Twenty-two-year-old Konstantinos Kotsaris was introduced in his place, making his official debut under the most difficult circumstances. A few minutes later, it was one of the few times that the visitors advanced forward for a counter attack. And just when everything seemed lost, with no way to feed the ball into the area, along came Ergys Kace to score what could possibly be one of the goals of the season. The Albanian midfielder chipped the ball over oncoming Bouchalakis and after leaving it bounce once, blasted it into the top corner of Jose Sa’s net. After that, Olympiacos manager Pedro Martins decided to introduce Dimitris Manos into the game, while ordering centre back Cisse to play in a more attacking position. His team began to utilise the possession of the ball, creating more chances within the visitors’ defence, who seemed unable to react. Kotsaris showed his reflexes at a Christodoulopoulos free kick from outside the area on the 83rd. Eventually though, Martins’ risks paid off, as Elabdellaoui made a cross from the right on the fifth minute of injury time and Cisse moved into the path of the ball to find a crucial equaliser for his team. If that wasn’t enough, they had a great opportunity to steal the three points one minute later, however Kotsaris denied Fortounis the opportunity to become a hero.

The game was marked by the death of a fan who collapsed in the stands after a heart failure. All major sports teams offered their condolences and the cost of the funeral will be covered by the Olympiacos Football Club.

The team that benefited the most from the result of the Athens derby was PAOK, who are now six points ahead from Olympiacos in the title run, after their comfortable 2-1 home win against Panetolikos. Even though they finished the first half goalless, the ‘black-and-whites’ had a lot of missed opportunities and it was only a matter of time until they found the way into the back of Kyriakidis’ net. And that they did on the 63rd minute after a cross from the right and an own goal by Marinakis who was under pressure from Prijovic. Two minutes later, former Arsenal striker Chuba Akpom also got his name on the score sheet. All the visitors could do is reduce the margin of their loss with a goal by Kamara.

The shock of the day came from the Olympic Stadium where champions AEK hosted second-placed Atromitos. The home team were unlucky as they saw their efforts bounce off the woodwork three times, until eventually the visitors punished them for their many wasted chances. One goal from Risvanis on the 89th and another from Koulouris on the 90th were enough to ensure that Atromitos walk away with the three points and maintain second place. In the other games of the day, Panionios claimed the three points in Xanthi and AEL beat PAS Giannena at home. After the international break for the Nations League, Olympiacos will face Atromitos while PAOK welcomes Xanthi.

GREEK SUPER LEAGUE DAY 10 RESULTS

Saturday 10 October

  • AEL – PAS Giannena 2-0 (50′ Golias, 76′ Deletic / 48′ sent off Cikarski)
  • Xanthi – Panionios 0-1 (77′ sent off Almeida / 36′ Masouras)
  • Levadiakos – OFI 2-1 (26′, 45’+1′ Stanojievic / 44′ pen. Aravidis)

Sunday 11 October

  • AEK – Atromitos 0-2 (89′ Risvanis, 90′ Koulouris)
  • PAOK – Panetolikos 2-1 (63′ OG Marinakis, 65′ Akpom / 71′ Kamara)
  • Lamia – Asteras Tripolis 0-0 (30′ sent off Scardovelli / 90’+3′ sent off Pasalidis)
  • Olympiacos – Panathinaikos 1-1 (90’+5′ Cisse / 61′ Kace)

Monday 12 October

  • Apollon Smyrnis – Aris 1-2 (45′ Triadis / 1′ Garcia, 69′ Bruno Gama)