Olympiacos have started their league defence perfectly after defeating Giannina, with all five of Greece’s giants managing to kick off the season with a victory.
The Piraeus side downed the “Ajax” of Epirus 2-0 at home on Monday morning (AEST) in the debut round of the 2022/23 term of the Greek Super League, a much-needed boost ahead of their European clash this week.
The current champions broke the deadlock close to the hour mark when substitute Pipa’s cross was headed in by playmaker Mathieu Valbuena (57′), and winger Lazar Randjelovic sealed the result with his effort into the bottom right (74′).
Panathinaikos secured a tough 1-0 home triumph against Ionikos to give their league campaign a winning start and help put their European disappointment behind them.
Winger Aitor Cantalapiedra put the Greens ahead on the stroke of half time after striking his penalty kick straight down the middle (45+3′) in what proved to be the winning goal.
Aris secured a great 3-0 success at home, spearheaded by midfieder Daniek Mancini and striker Andre Gray.
Mancini scored a first-half double, his first coming via a shot from the edge of the box which curled into the top right side of the goal (12′) and his second through a bit of quick dribbling and good placement into the bottom left (45+1′).
Gray put the match beyond doubt when he latched onto a brilliant over-the-top cross-field ball and buried his one-on-one chance (68′).
PAOK managed a narrow 1-0 home victory over Panetolikos on Sunday morning, thanks to an early winner from striker Brandon Thomas who polished off a well-worked team goal from close range (7′).
AEK earned a confident 0-3 away win against Lamia in what was a perfect start to the league led largely by star forward and captain Sergio Araujo.
The Fthiotida club squandered their opportunity to take the lead when forward Tomas Sebastian de Vincenti’s penalty hit the crossbar (33′) and Araujo capitalised two minutes later, instinctually striking the ball into the bottom left after a deflection.
The Argentine marksman bagged his second after pressuring and dispossessing a Lamia player, subsequently guiding the ball into the bottom right (65′), before midfielder Orbelin Pineda released a wonderful shot from range into the top right (73′) to guarantee the points.
Atromitos downed OFI 3-1 at home to kick off their season on a very positive note.
The Cretan side scored first through winger Juan Neira, whose shot squeezed into the bottom left 34′).
Marios Tzavidas equalised quickly for the hosts, knocking the ball in with a close-range header (39′) and they took the lead before the break after midfielder Juan Muniz slid in to tap a perfect grounded pass across goal into an empty net (45+3′).
Muniz missed a chance to make it three when his penalty was saved by a diving Sonny Stevens (51′) but Atromitos substitute Vidar Orn Kjartansson would rectify his mistake by scoring in very similar fashion as the Spaniard (73′).
Asteras Tripolis rescued a point to secure a 3-3 away draw with Volos on Saturday morning, in a tense back-and-forth encounter.
The Arcadians struck first when striker Asier Benito lobbed the ball over an advancing Boris Klaiman (27′), with VAR overturning the initial offside call to award the goal.
The Magnesia team responded well as last season’s top scorer Tom Van Weert headed in a cross to bring it level (33′) and midfielder Paolo Fernandes gave them the lead with a long-range shot that crept into the bottom right (56′).
Winger Milos Deletic on his club debut (65′) to make it 3-1 when subsitute Leo Tilica’s header into the bottom left (68′) brought them back into the contest.
Fellow substitute Jeronimo Barrales side-footed the ball past Klaiman into the bottom right to steal a point at the death (90+8′).
Greek Super League Ladder
1-AEK: 3
2-Aris: 3
3-Atromitos: 3
4-Olympiacos: 3
5-Panathinaikos: 3
5-PAOK: 3
7-Asteras Tripolis: 1
7-Volos: 1
9-Ionikos: 0
9-Panetolikos: 0
11-OFI: 0
12-PAS Giannina: 0
13-Levadiakos: 0
14-Lamia: 0
