SLGR Matchday 9 Recap: Atromitos Hold Leaders PAOK; Derby Draw in Athens
AGONAsport’s George Tsitsonis brings you a full recap of matchday 9 action in the Greek SuperLeague.
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In a weekend full of draws, PAOK maintained their lead atop the Greek Super League standings. Five matches ended in draws on Matchday 9, three of them scoreless. PAOK and Atromitos played out a 1-1 draw, while the Athens derby between Panathinaikos and AEK remained deadlocked at 0-0. Olympiacos picked up an important away win at Aris, Xanthi won once again while Panionios rolled past Panetolikos.
PAOK dropped their first points of the season (besides their two-point deduction) after a 1-1 draw against Atromitos in Peristeri. It was a clash of the top two that kicked off the weekend schedule and PAOK looked to be heading for victory after Jose Angel Crespo scored five minutes before the break after good work from fellow center-back Fernando Varela. Damir Canadi’s bunch would not break however as Atromitos, despite several absences, managed to earn the point thanks to Roland Ugrai’s 73rd minute strike.
Neither Panathinaikos nor AEK could take advantage of PAOK’s slip-up to draw closer to the top as their Saturday night derby finished 0-0. Both sides had chances in this encounter with Panathinaikos perhaps coming closest to the breakthrough. Good performances from both goalkeepers along with some wayward finishing ensured no goals in this tie.
Egyptian striker Koka’s 67th minute goal gave Olympiacos a priceless 1-0 win away to Aris on Sunday evening. It was Pedro Martins’ side’s biggest win of the season and brings them to within four points of PAOK at the top. Aris meanwhile have lost four on the bounce and will be seeking to stop the rot next weekend against away to Apollon Smirnis. They must do so without Paco Herrera though as the Spanish coach is gone after a mutual decision between club and manager.
An early offensive explosion led Panionios to an easy 3-0 victory over Panetolikos. The goals came early in Nea Smyrni as the hosts raced out to a 2-0 lead inside five minutes (Giorgos Masouras 2’, and Panagiotis Korbos 5’). In the 27th minute Fiorin Durmishaj added a third as Panionios effectively ended the match. Panetolikos tried to get a foothold in the game, but never seriously threatened to get back into the match.
Elsewhere, PAS Giannina and Lamia played out a foul-plagued 0-0 draw with few chances. Apollon Smirnis picked up their first point of the season away to OFI in the two teams’ 0-0 draw. Larisa held a 1-0 lead away to Levadiakos until an 82nd minute own goal by Nikos Golias saw the home side snatch a point.
On Monday night, Asteras Tripolis and Xanthi met in Tripoli and it was Xanthi who came away with the 1-0 win. Erik Jendrisek’s goal on 72 minutes was the difference as Xanthi won their fourth consecutive game and moved up to fourth in the table, one point ahead of AEK.
Matchday MVP - Roland Ugrai (Atromitos)
With several key players out, Atromitos needed someone to step up in order to keep pace with PAOK and remained undefeated. Enter the 25-year-old Hungarian striker. Ugrai has adapted well to his first stint abroad and now has three goals on the season for Atromitos. He nearly scored a wonder-goal against PAOK early on with a shot from behind the halfway line that hit the outside of the post. In the 73rd minute though he scored his side’s crucial equalizer with a run through the box and far post finish. In the absence of the league’s leading scorer Efthimios Koulouris, Ugrai stepped up to ensure Atromitos avoided defeat on Saturday.
Goal of the Matchday - Ahmed Hassan ‘Koka’ (Olympiacos)
Really fine team goal from Olympiacos. A terrific diagonal ball from Bibras Natkho found the surging run of Leonardo Koutris on the left. The Olympiacos left-back fizzed in a cross that found the unmarked Hassan who simply had to tap home from close range.
Save of the Matchday - Ogmundur Kristinsson (Larisa)
A top-class save from the Icelandic goalkeeper as he came quickly off his line to meet Petros Giakoumakis’ shot and get his foot to the ball forcing it out. The 94th minute point-blank stop saved a point for Larisa.
Team Performance of the Matchday - Panionios
Panionios scored early and often in a 3-0 win over Panetolikos. It was a very fast start from Michalis Grigoriou’s team. On the receiving end of some bad luck over the first matches this season, supporters will be hoping that performances like this from Panionios this past weekend will bring the team back up the table and into contention for European football.
Surprise of the Matchday - Apollon Smirnis
After losing eight straight matches to begin the season, Apollon finally got their first point of the season in Crete with Sunday’s 0-0 draw against OFI. And it could have been a victory as the team missed chances in their best performance of the season.
Disappointment of the Matchday - OFI
The Crete club’s season has been full of mixed reviews thus far. A victory two weeks ago against Olympiacos was the best result of the campaign and that was followed up by a decent result in an away draw with Larisa. This weekend though it was back to a below par performance as OFI failed to defeat previously point-less Apollon and probably could have even lost the match.
