Mollo to the rescue for Panathinaikos
 

SUPER LEAGUE - MATCHDAY 4

Yohan Mollo struck a last-minute penalty for Panathinaikos as the Greens held fierce rivals Olympiacos to a 1-1 draw in the big Super League Athens “Derby of the Eternal Enemies” at the Olympic Stadium on Sunday.  

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Miguel Angel Guerrero opened the scoring in the 36th minute with a clinical finish from a Kostas Tsimikas cross to put the visitors ahead, and it seemed that Pedro Martins’ side would take all three points to maintain their 100 percent start to the season.

That was until the 90th minute when the Greens were awarded a penalty which was emphatically converted by substitute Mollo, with Panathinaikos becoming the first team to score against the Thrylos this season in league play.

The result means that the Thrylos remain level on 10 points at the top with PAOK, after the Greek double winners from Thessaloniki also drew 2-2 with Aris in the “Derby of Macedonia” earlier in the evening.

Cash-strapped Panathnaikos, meanwhile, are down in 12th place having collected just two points from their four matches played.

THE MATCH

While this is a fixture that needs no introduction between Greece’s two most supported clubs that simply love to hate each other. However, their differing paths in recent seasons - especially early in this season, made for a “Princes vs. Paupers” kind of pre-match build-up to this particular showdown.

Olympiacos came into the match on the back of three wins without conceding a goal, while Panathinaikos are in disarray. Before tonight, the cash-strapped Greens had not scored a goal from open play and were hammered 4-0 by Aris last week.

That result prompted mass protests from supporters against hugely unpopular owner Giannis Alafouzos, with the Gate 13 ultras refusing to attend the match at the Olympic stadium.

It all made for a strange atmosphere, but the home side seemed willing to pull up both socks and sleeves and give the match a real go. The Greens started brightly and managed to test the Olympiacos defence on a couple of occasions, while there was little in the way of a goal threat from the Thrylos.

Unfortunately, that bright start was made to look pointless after 36 minutes when Olympiacos scored from what was their first serious chance. Left-back Kostas Tsimikas was once again the architect of the goal, sending over a cross which was flicked on by Panathinaikos defender Bart Schenkeveld and found its way to the feet of Guerrero at the back post.

The Spanish forward wasted no time in steadying himself before sending a low show through the legs of defender Emmanuel Insua and past Panathinaikos goalkeeper ? ?

It was a tough break for the home side, who had started the match confidently but were undone by a lapse of concentration at the back at a crucial moment.

Panathinaikos were handed a golden chance to get back in the match on the hour mark when Semedo was penalised for a push on Juan Jose Perea. But Italian striker Federico Macheda’s spot-kick was poor and too close to Jose Sa’s dive, with the Olympiacos goalkeeper pushing it behind for a corner.

There were a few Olympiacos hearts in mouths when the referee initially ordered the penalty to be re-taken after the assistant referee flagged for an infringement, but it survived a VAR review and the spot-kick was not retaken.

Panathinaikos continued to try and find an equalising goal, but they did not seem to have the ideas or quality to break down their arch rivals.

But as the clock ticked down the Greens edged ever closer. First came a close-range effort from Macheda, whose shot following a free-kick was superbly tipped around the post by the impressive Sa, who had another good night between the posts for the visitors.

The home side kept going and when Macheda made up for his earlier penalty miss by drawing a foul from Meriah with a neat piece of skill in the box which saw the referee point to the spot, it was up to Mollo to level the match. And the Frenchman stepped up confidently to slot home from 12 yards to earn the draw that the Greens’ play deserved.

STARTING LINEUPS

Panathinaikos: 1 Dioudis (GK), 2 Johansson, 2 Insua, 5 Schenkeveld, 44 Pougouras, 7 Kolovos, 8 Donis, 9 Macheda, 10 Zahid, 18 Bouzoukis, 21 Kourbelis

Olympiacos: 1 Jose Sa (GK), 20 Meriah, 14 Omar, 21 Tsimikas, 5 Bouchalakis, 8 Guilherme, 10 Daniel Podence, 19 Masouras, 28 Valbuena, 9 Guerrero

HIGHLIGHTS

by Graham Wood

Image Source: sportfm.gr

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