Impressive Greens kick off season with Xanthi win
Impressive Greens kick off season with Xanthi win
GREEK SUPERLEAGUE - MATCHDAY 1
Panathinaikos kicked off their SuperLeague campaign with a priceless 1-0 away victory over Xanthi on Sunday, producing an impressive display in which they could have won by a much bigger margin, while elsewhere Panionios and OFI Crete shared the spoils of a 2-2 draw in Nea Smyrni.
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George Donis’ youthful, new-look team, who have not been given much of a chance for the 2018/19 season due to the club’s ongoing financial troubles, claimed all three points at the Xanthi FC Arena thanks to a superb goal from 20-year-old Greek forward Giannis Bouzoukis.
Bouzoukis struck with a long range shot in the 69th minute, but there could have been more goals to celebrate had Xanthi goalkeeper Zivkov Zivkovic not been in such good form. Xanthi were reduced to 10 players in the ninth minute of added time when Serbian midfielder Petar Đuričković was sent off for kicking out at Evangelos Oikonomou.
Nonetheless, Greens fans will not care too much about the winning margin as much as the three points won as they begin their quest to finish as high up in the table a possible since they are starting with -6 points because of financial troubles. That margin is down to -3 after tonight’s win.
There were further chances for 17-year-old forward Dimitris Emmanouilidis, who missed two good openings, while Zivkovic also saved well from Tasos Chatzigiovanis among others on a positive night for PAO and its fans.
OFI get creditable draw on top flight return
In Nea Smyrni OFI Crete showed that they could be more than just making up the numbers this season after securing a 2-2 away draw against Panionios.
The Cretans went from 1-0 down to 2-1 ahead after a double strike from Argentine midfielder Juan Neira (23, 26) within three minutes cancelled out Giorgos Masouras’ ninth-minute opener for the hosts.
But Panionios fought back to draw level through Dimitris Stavropoulos in the 44th minute of an enthralling first half. No further goals were added as both sides failed to trouble the goalkeepers in the second half.
By Graham Wood
Image Source: sportfm.gr
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