Olympiacos conquer Panathinaikos to go top
 

SUPER LEAGUE - MATCHDAY 17

Youssef El-Arabi scored the only goal of the game as Olympiacos defeated Panathinaikos 1-0 in the Derby of the Eternal Enemies on Sunday at an eerily empty Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium in Piraeus - a result which sent them to the top of the Super League table ahead of PAOK by a single point.

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The 32-year-old Moroccan forward rifled in a superb volley from six yards out from Mathieu Valbuena's precise right-wing cross 16 minutes from time to claim all three points for Pedro Martins' side.

Olympiacos were just about the better side in what was a closely-contested derby showdown between two teams of contrasting fortunes both on and off the pitch, and the win moved them on to 41 points, making them the new league leaders with PAOK second on 40 points.

The Thrylos were playing behind closed doors as they served their second match supporter ban for recent crowd trouble last month ahead of the match against title rivals PAOK, but that did not matter as the men from Piraeus benefited from PAOK's slip-up against Aris on Saturday to move to the top of the standings.

THE MATCH

The usual sting which features in these derby clashes was taken out a little due to the absence of fans inside the ground, and primarily due to the visitors' poor financial situation off the field. Panathinaikos are nowhere near as strong as they once were and came into this match looking to salvage some pride as well as climb into the top six.

Having seen Aris defeat league leaders PAOK 4-2 just 24 hours earlier, the onus was on Olympiacos to take three points and claim the leadership. And it was the home side who got the first sight of a goal from a free-kick after nine minutes. However, Frenchman Mathieu Valbuena blasted his effort into the Panathinaikos wall, while Andreas Bouchalakis volleyed the rebound well wide of Sokratis Dioudis' right post.

Panathinaikos were more than holding their own against their bitter rivals, though, and the direct running of Tasos Chatzigiovanis and Giannis Bouzoukis caused the home side plenty of headaches in the opening 45 minutes.

Olympiacos' best chance came after 21 minutes when a brilliant cross-field pass from Daniel Podence found its way to the feet of Giorgos Masouras. The Greece international forward steadied himself and fired in a shot on goal, but Panathinaikos goalkeeper Dioudis produced a superb save to deny him and keep the scores locked at 0-0.

Olympiacos were not managing to cause Panathinaikos too many problems as the half entered its final minutes, with Dioudis called into action to gather a header from Ruben Semedo at full stretch following a corner on 41 minutes.

The Greens then went straight down the other end in response and should have opened the scoring. A lightning-quick break released Mattias Johansson, however, the Swedish defender's left-footed shot was superbly parried to safety by Olympiacos goalkeeper Jose Sa.

The last action of the half saw Panathinaikos break forward again and work themselves into a dangerous position, but winger Chatzigiovanis dragged his low shot from the edge of the penalty area well wide of Sa's right post. 

The tempo of the match dropped in the second half, and up to the hour mark, either side had to show for themselves were a couple of long-range efforts that sailed harmlessly over the crossbar.

The introductions of Yassine Benzia and Lazaros Christodoulopoulos, however, gave some added impetus to the home side's attack, and on 63 minutes, Olympiacos should really have been 1-0 up.

Panathinaikos captain Dimitris Kourbelis was caught in possession on the edge of the Panathinaikos penalty area, and the ball was slipped through to substitute Christodoulopoulos. Christodoulopoulos had all the goal to aim at with only Dioudis to beat from around 10 yards out, but he somehow contrived to stab the ball over the crossbar while trying to score with the outside of his right boot.

Kourbelis was at fault again a few minutes later for giving away a free-kick in a dangerous position on the edge of the box, but Valbuena sent his effort high over the crossbar.

Just when it seemed like the match would limp to a goalless draw, Olympiacos struck with a killer blow in the 74th minute. Valbuena found himself some space to pick out a cross down the right, and his delivery found El-Arabi who had evaded his marker Bart Schenkeveld brilliantly before slotting the ball emphatically past a helpless Dioudis.

You felt that one goal would be enough to defeat a Panathinaikos side who had not threatened the hosts as much as coach Giorgos Donis would have liked, and so it proved as Olympiacos held firm to pick up another vital three-point haul.

STARTING LINEUPS

Olympiacos: 1 Sa (Gk), 21 Tsimikas, 3 Semedo, 24 Ba, 14 Elabdellaoui, 5 Bouhalakis, 4 Camara, 19 Masouras, 28 Valbuena, 10 Podence, 11 El-arabi

Panathinaikos: 1 Dioudis (Gk), 3 Insua, 44 Pougouras, 5 Schenkeveld, 2 Johansson, 8 Donis, 21 Kourbelis, 11 Chatzigiovanis, 10 Zahid, 18 Bouzoukis, 9 Macheda

HIGHLIGHTS

by Graham Wood

Image Source: sportime.gr

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