Greece round-up: Olympiakos out in front

Leaders Olmpiakos Piraeus FC will go into next week’s derby with second-placed Panathinaikos FC in good heart having maintained their lead in the Hellenic National League with a 2-1 home win over PAS Giannina FC.

Olmpiakos in charge
Predrag Djordjevic gave Olympiakos the lead in the 29th minute from the penalty spot after he was brought down by Theofylaktos Nikolaidis. Central defender Paraskevas Antzas made it 2-0 with a close range shot five minutes after half-time, and despite sustained pressure from Giannina, Athanasios Kostoulas’s 66th-minute own goal was all they could muster.
 
Panathinaikos stay in touch
Panathinaikos are three points behind the leaders, and wrapped up a 2-0 win at OFI Crete FC with two goals in the first half-hour. The visitors took the lead when Pavlos Adamos could only divert a Giorgos Karagounis cross into his own net in the 24th minute, before Karagounis doubled his team's lead with an exquisite individual effort six minutes later.

PAOK beaten
Third-placed FC PAOK Thessaloniki slipped to a 2-0 defeat at Panionios GS, whose bid for a UEFA Cup place was boosted by goals from Ermin Siliak and Erol Bulut. Meanwhile, AEK Athens FC could only draw 1-1 at Aris Thessaloniki FC, who took the lead through Niren Debah in the 17th minute. Kostas Katsouranis struck back with a spectacular free-kick three minutes later but, despite creating a host of clear chances, AEK failed to capitalise and stay fourth.

Nine games undefeated
Xanthi FC extended their unbeaten run to nine games with a 1-0 win at Kallithea GS thanks to a 73rd-minute goal from Stavros Lambriakos, while Iraklis FC came from two goals down to beat Ionikos FC 3-2 at home.

Great comeback
The away side took a 2-0 lead thanks to two early goals from Oliver Macor, but Iraklis were level before half-time through Edwin Muratti's direct foul kick and Giorgos Xenidis. Polish striker Marcin Mieczel’s header completed Iraklis’ comeback three minutes into the second period, before the visitors had Angelos Vilanakis dismissed for dissent.

Egaleo win at last
Elsewhere, Egaleo FC ended a run of eight games without a win with a narrow 1-0 victory at Akratitos FC, with Thodoros Angos’ header from a corner by Avraam Symeonidis pving to be the difference between the two sides. Bottom side Panahaiki GC, meanwhile, picked up only their fifth point of the season after a 1-1 home draw with Proodeftiki FC, but will feel they should have won. Panahaiki took the lead through Kostas Stefanis just before the hour, but were denied a priceless win by a Kostas Mangos penalty.