The Greek Super League heads to its most exciting phase with big games played on almost on a weekly basis.
PAOK, who are currently at the top of the ladder with an eight point advantage over Olympiacos, will be truly tested over the next couple of weeks starting on Sunday when they travel to Athens to face champions AEK.
On Wednesday night, for the postponed round 15 of the league, the team from Thessaloniki showed signs of fatigue as they needed two penalties to defeat Giannena side that was plagued by injuries and was missing seven of their most important men.
Razvan Lucescu’s side barely managed to snatch the 2-1 win, thanks to a late goal from new signing Karol Swiderski.
The good news for the “black-and-whites” is that AEK appeared to be in equally bad form against Levadiakos, as they played just enough to pull off a 1-0 win credit to an Ezequiel Ponce goal on the 24th minute.
Meanwhile, Olympiacos continues to impress as they demolished Larissa at home 4-0 and appear to be unstoppable heading into the most the most crucial part of their season, with the most important games of the Greek League but also the Europa League games against Dynamo Zagreb coming up.
Coach Pedro Martins has the luxury of making changes to his lineup without them affecting the overall performance of the team, as proven by Wednesday’s performance.
The Portuguese coach switched out almost seven out of the eleven players that started the game at Tripoli last Sunday, yet the team from Piraeus still walked away as clear winners from the game.
Giorgos Masouras broke the deadlock for the “red-and-whites” with his inaugural goal for the club, while Kostas Fortounis showcased the excellent condition that he’s in by scoring a hat-trick.
In the meantime, Panathinaikos returned to their winning ways as they managed to walk away with the three points in their away game against Panetolikos winning 0-1.
The goal was scored by Giannis Bouzoukis late in the first half.
The “greens” were forced to defend their advantage as they were reduced to ten men on the 60th minute after Ergys Kace was sent off.
PAOK currently sit comfortably at the top with 50 points, while Olympiacos has 42 and AEK 36.
ROUND 15 RESULTS
Panionios – Asteras Tripolis 1-0 (36′ Durmishaj)
Lamia – Apollon Smyrnis 2-1 (12′, 24′ pen. Barrales – 19′ El-Helwe)
PAOK – Giannena 2-1 (38′ pen. Pelkas, 87′ Swiderski – 52′ Manos)
AEK – Levadiakos (24′ Ponce)
Panetolikos – Panathinaikos 0-1 (32′ Bouzoukis, 59′ sent off Kace)
Olympiacos – AEL 4-0 (8′ Masouras, 16′ pen., 45′, 75′ Fortounis)
*The OFI-Atromitos and Xanthi-Aris games were to be held on Friday 1 February.
ROUND 19 FIXTURES
Saturday 2 February
Lamia – Panetolikos
Olympiacos – Panionios
Sunday 3 February
OFI – Xanthi
Apollon Smyrnis – Asteras Tripolis
AEL – Atromitos
Levadiakos – Panathinaikos
Aris – Giannena
AEK – PAOK