Champions Olympiakos were held to a draw at Kavala on Sunday to fall further behind in the title race, piling more pressure on beleaguered coach Zico, as the weekend’s games were marred by fan violence.
The gap between leaders Panathinaikos and Olympiakos was extended by two points, as the Greens managed an easy win against bottom side Panthrakikos. PAO are now on 47 points from 18 games, whereas Olympiakos have 40.
There were problems for the Reds off the pitch, as well as on it on Sunday. Olympiakos had secured an allocation of 7,000 tickets for the game but it is believe there were many more Reds fans in Kavala without tickets.
Some supporters clashed with police before the match and there were constant scuffles during the game as fans of both sides clashed with each other and with stewards and authorities. It was not clear whether there had been any injuries or arrests.
On the pitch, Olympiakos were unable to find a way past a well-organised Kavala side. English striker Matt Derbyshire, making his first start since returning from injury, had a good chance to open the scoring after rounding the goalkeeper but saw his effort cleared off the line.
He was replaced in the second half by Lomana Lua Lua, also making his first appearance, since re-signing for the Piraeus club last week. Oscar Gonzalez was also brought on to replace Diogo but the visitors’ frontline was unable to create an opening.
The draw leaves champions Olympiakos seven points behind Panathinaikos and their hopes of another title are fading fast. Brazilian coach Zico was already under pressure before the game, so the failure to pick up all three points seems almost certain to seal his fate at a club that has rarely shown patience with its managers.
In contrast, Panathinaikos had a relatively comfortable afternoon against bottom side Panthrakikos at the Olympic Stadium in Athens.
The Greens had won all eight previous home games and, after 17 games, the visitors had only managed two draws and no wins in the Super League.
It rarely looked like this pattern would be broken on Sunday. However, Panthrakikos did threaten first when Steve Belek hit the post in the 20th minute.
Six minutes later, the visitors were ruing the missed chance as PAO captain Giorgos Karagounis gave his side the lead. Any doubts about who would pick up the three points were put to rest in the 40th minute when striker Dimitris Salpigidis scored a second for the league leaders, who moved onto 47 points after 18 games.
PAS Yiannina and Larissa remained in relegation trouble after they both lost on Sunday.
PAS went down 1-0 at home to Aris thanks to a goal from former Birmingham City midfielder Mehdi Nafti early in the second half. The win means Aris have 31 points from 18 games and are in fourth place.
The game, however, was marred by fighting between the two sets of fans. Dozens of supporters spilled onto the pitch at one stage, causing play to be stopped for 15 minutes.
Larissa went down 2-1 at Atromitos in Athens. In-form Ilias Anastasakos opened the scoring for the home side in the 39th minute. Marcin Baszynski added a second in the 64 minute.
The visitors only pulled a goal back two minutes before the final whistle thanks to Nikos Dabizas.
The defeats for PAS Yiannina and Larissa means that they remain joint-13th and in real danger of being relegated as they have only collected 18 points so far.
Levadiakos are two points behind them and second from bottom after coming away with a vital point from Panionios.
However, it could have been so much better for the visitors as they had led 2-0 going into the final stages of the game in Nea Smyrni.
Stefano Napoleoni struck first for Levadiakos in the 57th minute and Giorgos Barkoglou added a second less than 20 minutes later.
There still seemed to be little danger of Levadiakos dropping points when Bosko Balaban pulled one back for Panionios in the 87th minute but in the second minute of injury time, central defender Martin Latka popped up to dash the visitors’ hopes and grab a point for the Athenians who sit comfortably in mid-table with 24 points.
Greece’s Macedonian Super League clubs all shared good results on Saturday night, with wins for PAOK and Xanthi while Iraklis shared the spoils with AEK.
PAOK further tightened its grip on third place after their 1-0 win over Asteras Tripolis at Toumba.
PAOK and Asteras put on an end-to-end encounter at the Toumba Stadium to warm the sell-out home crowd in chilly conditions.
The only goal of the game was scored in the 57th minute by young striker Vassilis Koutsianikoulis who showed some skilful touches during the game.
The youngster owed a lot to Vladan Ivic who rolled the ball across the penalty area after PAOK caught Asteras with a quick counter attack.
The former Ergotelis striker almost fluffed his chance as he appeared to slip in front of an empty goal but managed to get enough of a connection for the ball to roll agonizingly over the line.
Despite going a goal down, Asteras applied non-stop pressure but could not come up with a goal – the result of some wayward finishing.
The win for PAOK means the Thessalonica side is now on 37 points from 18 games.
PAOK announced after the game that they had signed former AEK striker Edinho on a six-month loan from Spanish side Malaga.
In the other match to take place in Thessalonica, struggling Iraklis took the lead against AEK, who have not been able to hit their stride since beating Olympiakos at Karaiskaki in Piraeus.
Former AEK man Panayiotis Kone opened the scoring for the home side in the 27th minute with a monster of an unstoppable strike but Raffik Djebbour levelled in the 56th minute for the ‘Enosis’.
But the Algerian was not able to convert from the penalty spot with just three minutes to go, sending his spot-kick into the night sky.
AEK’s frustration was compounded on the 90-minute mark when defender Carlos Araujo was sent off after picking up a second yellow card. The result was AEK’s second consecutive draw after the 3-3 result at OAKA last weekend, in which AEK squandered a 3-1 lead.
The point lifts Iraklis one point above the relegation zone.
AEK are in sixth on 26 points, well adrift of the league leaders.
Xanthi moved into tenth place, on 21 points – just one behind Ergotelis, after beating their Cretan opponents 1-0 at home. The only goal of the game came in the 63rd minute and was scored by recent signing Nathan Ellington.
It was the Englishman’s first goal since arriving in Greece earlier this month.