The Piraeus giants have sealed their berth into the Greek Cup’s quarter-finals in spite of a tremendous fight from Kallithea, while PAOK made light work of Egaleo to secure a huge tie against rivals AEK in the next round.
Olympiacos drew 1-1 with Kallithea at “Georgos Karaiskakis” ground on Thursday morning to advance 2-1 on aggregate, booking their ticket to the next stage of the tournament.
The visitors gave the “red-whites” a huge early scare as they took the lead in the second minute of the contest through defender Giorgos Manthatis, making it level on aggregate in the process.
Olympiacos managed to cancel it out in the 24th minute, thanks to a goal from winger Kristoffer Velde (who also scored the winner in the previous leg), with the Norwegian’s strike proving enough for them to progress.
The Piraeus outfit now awaits the outcome of the Panathinaikos-Atromitos tie, with them set to play the winner of that tie.
Currently, it seems they will face their eternal enemy after the Greens downed the Peristeriotes 1-2 away in the first leg.
Atromitos took an early lead after a tap-in goal by striker Tom Van Weert, though the “Trifylli” was able to overcome the deficit following goals by midfielder Adam Cerin (45+2′) and Azzedine Ounahi (54′).
While Panathinaikos vs Olympiacos is yet to be confirmed, we are guaranteed at least one derby in the quarter-finals after PAOK made light work of Egaleo to book a meeting with AEK (who had progressed past Aris 2-1 on aggregate after their 1-1 draw on Wednesday).
The Thessaloniki giants smashed their opponents 7-1 at “Toumba” ground with goals coming from Shola Shoretire (6′), Tarik Tissoudali (12′, 47′, 51′), Andrija Zivkovic (36′), Taison (79′) and Brandon Thomas (81′).
The second division side earned one consolation through Ierotheos Dritsas (23′), though it did little to stop PAOK’s domination as they finished with a 10-1 victory on aggregate.
OFI managed to advance past Volos despite losing 0-1 away, with the Cretans’ 3-1 win in the previous leg providing enough distance as they earned a 3-2 triumph on aggregate.
OFI will now face second division side Panachaiki in the next round.
The other quarter-final tie will be decided after the second legs between Panserraikos-Panionios and Asteras Tripolis-Zakynthos on Friday morning, with the likelihood being that the two first division clubs will advance and face one another.
In terms of the Greek Super League, the country’s top clubs will be eyeing maximum points this weekend as they prepare for the 14th round of the competition.
Olympiacos will open the round with a home clash against Volos on Sunday morning, which will be followed by Aris hosting Atromitos.
The following day will see all three of PAOK, AEK and Panathinaikos going away in search of three points against Panserraikos, OFI and Asteras Tripolis respectively.
Lamia hosts Panetolikos in the other Monday game as they strive for their first win in the league since the very first matchday.
Kallithea plays Levadiakos in the round’s final match on Tuesday morning, with the clubs each battling for a crucial win against a fellow relegation rival.
Greek Super League Round 14 fixtures (AEDT)
Olympiacos-Volos: 2am, Sun 8 Dec
Aris-Atromitos: 4.30am, Sun 8 Dec
Panserraikos-PAOK: 12.30am, Mon 9 Dec
OFI-AEK: 2am, Mon 9 Dec
Asteras Tripolis-Panathinaikos: 4am, Mon 9 Dec
Lamia-Panetolikos: 5.30am, Mon 9 Dec
Kallithea-Levadiakos: 2.30am, Tue 10 Dec
