The first round of the Greek Cup quarter finals this week saw AEK defeat Panathinaikos in an evenly balanced game, PAOK draw with Olympiakos in Pireaus and Atromitos and Olympiakos Volou eke two goal victories against competion minnows.

Liberopoulos strikes lead AEK to victory

Nikos Liberopoulos popped up for his now-customary goals against his former club as AEK defeated Panathinaikos 2-0 on Wednesday in the first leg of their Greek Cup quarter-final.

Playing before some 40,000 PAO supporters at the Olympic Stadium, Jesualdo Ferreira’s men were unable to find a spark in a generally evenly-balanced game.

Liberopoulos proved to be the difference between the two sides in the second half.

He opened the scoring on 64 minutes when he extended one of his long legs to divert a wild and wayward shot from Sanel Jahic into the Panathinaikos net.

Nacco Skoko had used some blistering pace down the left wing to create the opportunity as AEK took a deserved lead.

The Greece international got his second of the match when his 80th minute free kick took a slight deflection off the back of Sebastian Leto to find its way past reserve keeper Orestis Karnezis.

With the return leg played at OAKA in front of the AEK fans, the ‘kitrinomavri’ will look to advance to the semi-finals where they will meet the winner of the PAOK and Olympiakos tie.

Atromitos edge closer to Cup semis

Atromitos took the upper hand in the Greek Cup quarterfinal tie with second-division Diagoras on Thursday, beating the Rhodes side 2-0 at home in the first leg.

The Peristeri team were dominant throughout the game and took the lead at the 41st minute courtesy of an Emanuel Perrone shot from a Vangelis Nastos cross from the right.

Nastos was also involved in the second goal at the 78th minute, as he passed the ball to Luis Eduardo Brito who fed Henri Camara for 2-0.

Diagoras’s best moment came at the 53rd minute when Bartosz Tarachulski failed to find the target with his header. He also had a goal disallowed as offside in the first half.

The second leg is scheduled to take place on Rhodes on February 3.

PAOK draw with Olympiakos

Adelinho Vieirinha turned PAOK into favourites in the tie with Olympiakos as his equaliser (1-1) at the Karaiskakis Stadium.

The draw means that PAOK can go through even with a goalless draw in the return game.

Olympiakos were by far the better side and would have scored more had they not hit the PAOK goal frame four times.

Francois Modesto gave Olympiakos the lead at the second minute of first-half injury time.

The Corsican player sent a powerful header home from an Ariel Ibagaza free-kick from the left.

Modesto’s header went in off a PAOK defender’s head for the Frenchman’s first goal in an Olympiakos jersey.

Both sides hit the woodwork in the first half, the first being a PAOK corner that Olympiakos goalkeeper Antonis Nikopolidis pushed to the crossbar, and then Modesto saw his shot beat PAOK keeper Costas Chalkias but hit the upright.

The Reds tried to repeat the goal sequence, but the Modesto header from another Ibagaza free-kick came off the post at the 67th minute.

Instead of Olympiakos stretching their lead, PAOK managed to equalise as Vieirinha grabbed a through-ball by Bruno Cirillo and beat a motionless Nikopolidis to stun the home fans seven minutes from time.

Lady Luck turned her back at Olympiakos once again at the 87th as the hosts saw the ball come off the woodwork twice within a few seconds, first with Jaouad Zairi and then with Vassilis Torosidis.

The return match is scheduled for February 2.

Olympiakos Volou win away

Olympiakos Volou have taken a clear lead in their bid to reach the semi-finals of the Greek Cup after downing Kerkyra 2-0 away on Tuesday.

The Volos side dominated this first leg, with the second to follow in two weeks’ time in Thessaly and made the most of the numerical advantage they enjoyed for the majority of the game.

The defining moment of the contest came at the 24th minute when Kerkyra’s Giorgos Paraskevaidis conceded a penalty to Ilias Solakis and was promptly sent off.

Vicente Monje took the penalty to put the visitors ahead at the 25th, with Kerkyra doing little to turn the tide in their favour.

Eventually Olympiakos Volou made it 2-0 10 minutes from time, as Juan Eduardo Martin headed in an Javier Umbides corner.