Panathinaikos reduced the gap from Super League leaders Olympiakos to four points with a 2-0 win over Ergotelis in Athens on Saturday, as AEK also beat Xanthi by the same scoreline.
Gilberto Silva and Cedric Kante scored first-half goals to lead defending champion Panathinaikos to a 2-0 victory over visiting Ergotelis in the Greek league on Saturday.
Panathinaikos took the lead in the seventh minute. Jean-Alain Boumsong rose high in Ergotelis’ area to meet Sotiris Ninis’ corner and head the ball to Gilberto Silva, who scored with a diving header.
In the 38th, Panathinaikos made it 2-0, again with a header from a corner. Cedric Kante rose above the defenders to meet Lazaros Christodoulopoulos’ kick and find the net.
Panathinaikos has 44 points, four behind league leader Olympiakos, which travels to Volos on Sunday.
Also Saturday, Iraklis and Kerkyra played to a scoreless draw and AEK Athens got back on track with their 2-0 win at Xanthi.
It didn’t take long for AEK to find the back of the net.
In just two minutes, Argyriou’s cross found the box and Xanthi’s defense could not clear it. Capitalizing on the bad defending, Leonardo struck the ball and took the lead for his team.
Leonardo would have another chance in the 12th minute but it would prove to be less memorable. Hovering around the edge of the box, Leonardo took a powerful shot at goal but it flew over the crossbar.
In the 20th minute, Marcelinho cut inside the AEK box and was able to get a shot off. The shot was a nice idea but it was ultimately a comfortable save for Arabatzis.
Seven minutes later, Leonardo took a corner kick and found Lyberopoulos. Lybe’s header was world class and promptly found the top right corner.
Despite having eleven corners, Xanthi could not break down the AEK defense in the first half. Ergotelis was much more active in the second half.
In the 56th minute Xanthi exploited a mistake in the AEK box. The defenders could not get rid of the ball and it fell to Stathakis.
The defender had his shot blocked but the rebound fell to Poy. Poy had a great chance but he could not convert.
In the 66th minute, Eder demonstrated some nice dribbling and found Kafes to the left of him. Kafes subsequently passed it to Leonardo and the Brazilian was in on goal. However, his effort was saved by Gspurning.
In the 76th minute, Eder was almost in on goal but Stewart’s last ditch tackle ensured that the ball be kept out.
The last substantial chance fell to Xanthi in the 81st minute. Vasilakakis picked up the ball and got a nice volley off. His ball was deflected out for a corner and that was it. AEK finished the ninety minutes with two goals, a clean sheet and the three points.
On Sunday Atromitos vs. Asteras, Panionios vs. Kavala, Larissa vs. Panserraikos and Aris vs. PAOK.
