Olympiakos dropped points in the Greek league for only the second time this season, sharing a goalless draw with host Atromitos at Peristeri on Sunday.
The Reds’ lead over second-placed PAOK was cut to eight points after an entertaining game which both teams could have won given the chances they had. Atromitos has been the last team to beat Olympiakos in the league, last season in Piraeus. They take on fifteenth placed Levadiakos on Sunday, hoping to star another winning streak.
The champions received a blow ahead of their Champions League matches with Manchester United as central defender Dimitris Siovas was operated on Saturday and will miss the action of the next three months. However the match at Peristeri signaled the return to action for Costas Mitroglou after seven weeks on the sidelines.
PAOK won 1-0 at home against Panetolikos through a Lucas goal, but its fans booed the Thessaloniki club’s players off the pitch as they obviously expected more than the mediocre performance that could have cost PAOK some points if Panetolikos was more efficient in attack.
They will hope to reap better results against Panionios on Sunday.
Similarly, Panathinaikos stayed in fourth beating Panionios 1-0 at home thanks to a goal by Danijel Pranjic, but Panionios would have got at least a point had it not missed a penalty kick or hit the woodwork twice. Panathinaikos will take on second last Veria on Monday.
Asteras remained fifth with its 3-0 win over Platanias Hanion at Tripoli, while Panthrakikos rose to sixth beating rival Thrace club Xanthi 2-1.
Lawrie Sanchez is the toast of Rizoupoli, as the Northern Ireland veteran is steering Apollon to safety with one win after another. Six days after the team’s triumph at Aris (2-0), the Athens club thrashed PAS Giannina 4-0 at Rizoupoli to move away from the relegation zone, to the 12th spot for the first time.
Veria took advantage of the two red cards shown to OFI Crete players to score its first away win (1-0) with a goal five minutes from the end on Saturday, a couple of hours before Levadiakos’s return to victories with a 2-0 win over Ergotelis at Livadia.