csconstantine.com

ATHENS, Greece (AP)—Olympiakos took a giant step toward winning the Greek title for the 38th time with a 2-1 win over defending champion and archrival Panathinaikos on Saturday in a game that ended in chaotic scenes.

Rafik Djebbour’s injury-time goal sealed the win and put Olympiakos 10 points ahead of its second-place rival with seven rounds left.

The delirious Olympiakos fans charged onto the pitch at the final whistle and Panathinaikos players, already upset by a disallowed goal and the manner of the winner, claimed they were attacked.

Panathinaikos forward Djibril Cisse, one of the players allegedly attacked by the crowd, was so angry he told reporters he would leave Greece in a few months.

“Enough is enough,” Cisse told reporters after the game. “I have taken my decision. You (the reporters) should take advantage of the fact that these will be my last few months in Greece.”

Cisse was upset the referee chalked off Costas Katsouranis’ 81st minute strike for offside, and that Djebbour’s goal was allowed to stand. Panathinaikos players and officials claim Djebbour was in an offside position.

“We won the match. I know it, you know it,” Cisse told reporters.

About 400 Panathinaikos fans gathered outside Panathinaikos’ training facilities east of Athens and gave the players a standing ovation. They pleaded with Cisse to reconsider his decision.

Cisse, the Greek league’s top scorer last season, with 23 goals, and the leading scorer this season with 18, signed a four-year contract with Panathinaikos in 2009, reportedly worth ?2.5 million ($3.4 million) per year.

“It’s a shame, a great shame,” Panathinaikos midfielder Gilberto Silva said. A 2008 signing from Arsenal, Gilberto Silva, a Brazil national team member, is expected to return to his homeland after the season.

Panathinaikos officials were furious at referee Dimitris Kalopoulos.

“This was a clear robbery… They (the Olympiakos fans) hit four of our players, specifically (Cedric) Kante, (Josu) Sarriegi, (Sotiris) Ninis and Cisse. The authorities will be inexcusable if they do not slap Olympiakos with a heavy penalty,” Panathinaikos vice president Dimitris Gontikas said.

A Panathinaikos statement called the game a “sorry shadow puppet theater spectacle.”

Olympiakos president Vangelis Marinakis tried to downplay reports that he had a run-in with Panathinaikos players after the game.

“Get serious, guys, get serious,” he told reporters when asked about it.

“There should be no complaints,” Marinakis, a shipping tycoon, had said earlier. “We are ahead by 10 points (in the standings) and deservedly so.”

Djebbour struck a minute into stoppage time, chesting the ball down and scoring from close range to send the home fans into delirium.

The referee had to pause the game for four minutes as fans lit flares in the stands, causing smoke to billow across the pitch, and when the action resumed, Olympiakos had Vasilis Torossidis sent off for shoving Sebastian Leto.

Leto, a former Olympiakos player who moved to Panathinaikos in 2009, was the main target of the home fans’ ire during the game.

Reports suggested that a group of Panathinaikos players, upset by Torossidis’ treatment of Leto during the game, tried to confront the player afterward in the Olympiakos locker room, but instead ended up in a heated exchange with Marinakis.

Kevin Mirallas had opened the scoring for Olympiakos in the 20th minute before Leto equalized in the 58th.

Olympiakos dominated almost throughout the first half, with 63 percent of possession.

Mirallas opened the scoring in the 20th minute following a carefully orchestrated move from a freekick. The Belgian striker had positioned himself next to the defensive wall and bolted free to receive Ariel Ibagaza’s pass and shoot into the far corner of the goal.

That prompted the first stoppage by the referee as heavy smoke from the Olympiakos fans’ flares covered the pitch.

Leto equalized in the 58th. His curling freekick from near the right sideline was intended as a cross but teammate Josu Sarriegi missed his header, the Olympiakos defense failed to clear and the ball bounced in front of startled goalkeeper Urko Pardo before finding the net.

Panathinaikos thought it had scored a winner in the 81st when Katsouranis put the ball in the net but his effort was ruled out for offside—although replays suggested it was an incorrect decision.

And the visitors’ luck took another turn for the worse in injury time when Jaouad Zairi’s cross bounced off Dudu’s shoulder and into the path of Djebbour who scrambled it home under pressure from Sarriegi.

Also Saturday, Kerkyra won 2-0 at Asteras and host Kavala played to a scoreless draw against last-place Panserraikos.

On Sunday it’s Atromitos vs. Aris, Xanthi vs. Larissa, AEK vs. Panionios and Volos vs. Iraklis. The PAOK vs. Ergotelis game, originally scheduled for Saturday, has been postponed and no new date has been set.

Labels: beats, Greek, league, Olympiakos, Panathinaikos

ATHENS, Greece (AP)—Olympiakos scraped a 1-0 win over visiting Xanthi after an own goal by defender Olubayo Adefemi on Sunday, maintaining a seven-point lead over defending Greek champion Panathinaikos.

Ten-man Panathinaikos won 1-0 at PAOK to move 13 points clear of its third-place rival.

Also Sunday, Volos beat Atromitos 2-0, Ergotelis defeated Panionios 2-0 and Kavala downed Kerkyra 1-0.

Olympiakos attacked from the start but it was Xanthi which missed the first scoring chance in 16th minute when Christopher Katongo dribbled past two defenders and shot from the edge of the area, only to be denied by goalkeeper Urko Pardo.

Ten minutes later, Albert Riera’s free kick found Francois Modesto inside Xanthi’s area but the latter’s header bounced off Xanthi’s crossbar.

The hosts scored their only goal seconds before halftime. Vassilis Torossidis crossed from the right, David Fuster rose to head the ball and Adefemi, attempting to defend, pushed the ball into the net.

In the 60th, Riera found Torossidis inside the area but Xanthi goalkeeper Michael Gspurning blocked the shot with his legs.

Gspurning also had to intervene in the 77th when he jumped and palmed away a long lob by Ariel Ibagaza.

Xanthi nearly equalized in injury time, but Pardo rushed out of his goal to meet the charging Adefemi at the edge of his area and kick the ball away.

In Thessaloniki, Panathinaikos took the lead in the 10th minute through Sotiris Ninis’ curling free kick and had to fend off PAOK’s continual attacks for the rest of the game.

The hosts missed their best chance in the 37th when Vieirinha’s long-range shot hit the crossbar.

The defending champion was forced to play a man short for the whole second half after Nikos Spyropoulos saw a yellow card in the 43rd. PAOK was unable to capitalize on its superiority despite having eight shots on goal to Panathinaikos’ none.

PAOK also ended the game a man short after Pablo Contreras was dismissed in the 74th.

Panathinaikos’ only second-half foray into PAOK’s area came in the 88th, when Gilberto Silva’s through ball sent Costas Katsouranis alone with goalkeeper Costas Halkias, but Katsouranis shot wide.

Labels: beats, leads, Olympiakos, points, Xanthi

By Graham Wood

ATHENS, Feb 6 (Reuters) - Olympiakos Piraeus marked the 30-year anniversary of the Karaiskaki stadium disaster with a record-breaking 1-0 win over Skoda Xanthi on Sunday.

A minute’s silence was observed before the Super League leaders’ victory preserved their seven-point lead over arch-rivals and reigning champions Panathinaikos.

The win was the Piraeus club’s 10th in succession and their 10th in as many home matches, a new club record.

“I didn’t know that it was a record; this makes me even happier,” said coach Ernesto Valverde.

“We dedicate the victories at the Karaiskakis and the record to those people who lost their lives.”

Twenty-one Olympiakos supporters died on Feb. 8 1981 while rushing out of the stadium to celebrate their team’s victory over AEK Athens in what remains the biggest stadium tragedy in Greek football.

Also on Sunday, Panathinaikos got the victory they needed to stay in touch with their rivals by defeating PAOK Salonika 1-0.

Despite the defeat, PAOK remained third on 34 points with AEK Athens a point behind following their surprise 2-1 home defeat by Aris Salonika on Saturday.

Panserraikos’ woes continued with a 2-1 home defeat by Iraklis which left them bottom with 16 points.

(Editing by Tom Pilcher; To query or comment on this story email sportsfeedback@thomsonreuters.com)

Labels: anniversary, emotional, Olympiakos, record, Reuters

Labels: beats, league, maintains, Olympiakos, Volos