Olympiacos wrap up 39th Greek title
Sunday, April 1, 2012
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Olympiacos FC have clinched their 39th league title after overcoming Panaitolikos GFS 1-0 to take an unassailable ten-point lead at the top with three games remaining.
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Olympiacos FC have wrapped up their third consecutive league title thanks to a 1-0 victory against Panaitolikos GFS.
Ernesto Valverde's defending champions dispatched relegation-threatened Panaitolikos to maintain their ten-point advantage over Panathinaikos FC with three games to go and seal a 14th league crown in 16 years. The only goal of the game came on 54 minutes, when Kevin Mirallas linked up with Jean Makoun before finding the net with a cool finish to mark his 19th goal of a prolific season.
"It was a tough league title to achieve, considering we have been playing on all three fronts this season – league, cup and in Europe," said captain Vassilis Torossidis. "We have a tightly knit group and managed to survive after our mediocre run in late December and early January. No team can perform at full throttle from start to finish. However, we have 25 equally gifted players and that was key to winning the title."
Greek international Avraam Papadopoulos added: "It's a league title we deserve, as we played attractive football this season. Our main characteristics are our team spirit and squad rotation, as well as the quality of the players. However, our job is not done yet. We have to be disciplined and perform well in the remaining games, and also win the cup."
Olympiacos defeated OFI Crete FC 1-0 in the first leg of the Greek Cup semi-finals and travel to Heraklion on Wednesday for the return match.