Greece round-up: Panathinaikos stay ahead

Panathinaikos FC maintained their three point lead at the top of the Alpha Ethniki following a 3-1 win at Kallithea GS.

Doubled the advantage
The visitors took the lead on 47 minutes when Nikos Lyberopoulos collected a loose ball to score from close range after goalkeeper Giorgos Souloganis had blocked an Emmanuel Olisadebe shot. Olisadebe then doubled the advantage on 69 minutes with a header before Goran Vlaovic put the result beyond doubt.

Nikopolidis beaten
Giorgos Koulakiotis ended Panathinaikos goalkeeper Antonis Nikopolidis' 625 minutes without conceding a league goal, with a consolation goal for Kallithea in the 88th minute .

Emphatic victory
Second-placed Olympiakos Piraeus FC were forced to play at the neutral venue of Kalamata following a stadium ban for crowd trouble, but had little trouble disposing of Egaleo FC in an emphatic 4-0 victory. Lambros Houtos scored a hat-trick, opening the scoring on six minutes and then adding a second on 15 minutes with a neat back-heel. A third arrived on 30 minutes through Predrag Djordjevic and Houtos rounded-off the scoring on 54 minutes. 

Ninth consecutive win
AEK Athens FC celebrated their ninth consecutive league win with a 3-0 victory at relegation-threatened Ionikos FC. Vassilis Lakis took advantage of poor defending to score the opener on 26 minutes. A Vassilis Tsartas penalty put the visitors further ahead eight minutes into the second half and Walter Centeno completed the victory in style in stoppage time, scoring with a powerful shot.

Panionois held
Panionois GS were held to a 1-1 draw by Akratitos FC in another game played on a neutral ground, this time in Livadia. Struggling Akratitos went ahead in the 30th minute through Panagiotis Gitsis, but then had Petr Cvetanov sent-off on 61 minutes and Christos Kontis equalized in the 76th minute. Panionois had Erol Bulut sent-off late on in the game for a second yellow card.

Valuable draw
Panahaiki GC recorded a valuable 2-2 draw against PAOK Thessaloniki despite falling behind twice. Giorgos Koutsis put PAOK ahead on 51 minutes from a free-kick only for Nikos Skarmoutsos to equalize. Giannakis Okkas put the visitors back in command on 75 minutes, but Igor Butisa scored deep into stoppage time to rescue a point.

Crete win
Aris Thessaloniki FC defeated Proodeftiki FC 2-1, Iraklis FC ran out 2-0 winners against ten-man Xanthi FC while OFI Crete FC managed a 1-0 victory over bottom side PAS Giannina FC despite playing the second 45 minutes with only ten players after Elias Kotsios was sent-off just before half time. Alessandro Soares scored the only goal of the game on 50 minutes.