Greece round-up: Panathinaikos preserve three-point gap

Panathinaikos FC maintained their three-point advantage at the top of the Hellenic National League with a comfortable 3-0 home win against Egaleo FC.

First-half dominance
Against the side that eliminated them from the Greek Cup, Panathinaikos were always in control yet took until two minutes before half-time to take the lead. Polish striker Emmanuel Olisadebe broke the deadlock, heading a left-wing cross from Joonas Kolkka into the net.

Olisadebe on target again
Olisadebe doubled Panathinaikos' advantage after 62 minutes, scoring with a close range shot. It was 3-0 12 minutes later, as Erik Lincar's cross was met by the head of Nikos Lyberopoulos. However, the victory was marred by a leg injury sustained by captain Angelos Basinas, which will rule him out of the UEFA Cup quarter-final second-leg match with FC Porto on Thursday.

Olympiakos stay in touch
Second-placed Olympiakos Piraeus FC kept up the pressure on the leaders with a deserved 2-0 win away at Ionikos FC. Defender Giorgios Amanatidis put the away side in front after 34 minutes from a Predrag Djordjevic corner, before forward Peter Oforiquaye doubled the lead. It could have been even better for Olympiakos, but Djordjevic's last-minute free-kick hit the post.

Historic win
AEK Athens FC also recorded a resounding win, defeating Akratitos FC 6-2 in the final game at the Nikos Goumas stadium, with the club set to move to a new ground. AEK twice took the lead in first half through Vassilios Lakis and Konstantinos Katsouranis, but Akratitos twice drew level through Panayotis Ziakas and Giorgos Barkoglou.

Second-half strikes
However, AEK took complete control of the match after half-time with goals from Ilija Ivic, Dimitris Nalitzis and two from Themistoklis Nikolaidis completing a memorable win. Nikolaidis now has 12 goals for the season, moving him level at the top of the scorers' chart with Olympiakos striker Stelios Giannakopoulos.

Panionios victorious
Panionios GC remained on course for a European place with a 1-0 win at Xanthi FC. The only goal of the game arrived after nine minutes, as a rebound off Xanthi defender José Mansur Junior gave the away side a fortunate lead, although Vaghelis Mantzios missed a golden opportunity to make the game safe in the second half, hitting the post with a penalty after Christos Kontis had been brought down by goalkeeper Nikos Anastasopoulos.

PAOK win again
FC PAOK Thessaloniki were also away winners, with goals from Pantelis Kafes, Yiannakis Okkas and Dimitrios Salpingidis securing a 3-0 victory at Proodeftiki FC. That was also the score in the game between Iraklis FC and PAS Giannina FC, with the home side securing three points through strikes from Ederson, Vladan Milojevic and Pantelis Kapetanos in the second half.

Two for Tatsis
Elsewhere, Aris Thessaloniki FC drew 1-1 at home to OFI Crete FC, while bottom side Panahaiki GC suffered a 3-1 defeat at Kallithea GS, with Giannis Tatsis securing the win with two late goals.