Five-star Panathinaikos demolish Apollon
Five-star Panathinaikos demolish Apollon
GREEK SUPERLEAGUE - MATCHDAY 11
Panathinaikos picked up from where they let off after the international break on Saturday with another powerful performance to thrash sorry Apollon Smyrnis 5-1 at the Olympic Stadium.
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A first-half double from Federico Macheda and goals from Dimitris Kourbelis, Emanuel Insua and Mattias Johansson after half-time sealed an easy win for the Giorgos Donis’ impressive young team, with Shikabala’s 67th- minute strike nothing but a consolation strike for the visitors.
The result propelled the Greens up to fourth in the table with 18 points from 11 matches, while Apollon remain cut adrift at the foot of the table with only a single point to show from their efforts.
After a gritty performance in their last outing against arch rivals Olympiacos which had them so close to a 1-0 win before a fortuitous late strike got the Thrylos out of jail with a 1-1 draw, this time the Greens were again on song.
Dominating possession overall in the first half, it didn’t take long for Panathinaikos to open the scoring, with Italian striker Macheda heading home Tasos Chatzigionanis’ cross after 15 minutes.
Macheda made it 2-0 four minutes before half-time when he latched on to a pass from Ergys Kaçe and slotted the ball cooly past Apollon goalkeeper Huanderson.
The pattern of the game continued into the second half with Panathinaikos on top and looking hungry for more goals against a struggling Apollon outfit, whom were thankful for their goalkeeper Huanderson who made a string of saves.
It was soon 3-0 though just six minutes after the restart when Chatzigiovanis squared the ball for Kourbelis. The captain’s initial shot struck Apollon defender Klodian Gino, but the ball fell favorably for Kourbelis to score from the rebound.
Two minutes after the hour mark and Insua made it 4-0 after playing a neat one-two with Macheda, but five minutes later it was the home side’s turn to concede when Shikabala found the target.
The Greens had the last word though, with Swedish midfielder Johansson getting in on the act with a goal after some great work from Christos Donis and Dimitris Emmanouilidis.
by Graham Wood
Image Source: togr.gr
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