OFI, Trikala dump Apollon and Kerkyra out of Cup

Two second-division teams, OFI and Trikala have made it to the knock-out stages of the Greek Cup after seeing off Apollon Smyrnis and Kerkyra respectively at the groups phase that concluded on Thursday.

OFI did it in style, as not only did it beat Apollon 2-1 on Crete while it needed just a draw, but it also finished top of its group, meaning it will be among the eight seeded teams in the round of 16.

Trikala was runner-up in its group after holding Kerkyra to a goalless draw at home on Wednesday, finishing one point above the Corfu team.

The seeded teams are OFI, PAOK, AEK, Atromitos, Olympiakos, Xanthi, Panathinaikos and PAS Giannina, while the unseeded teams are Platanias, Levadiakos, Lamia, Trikala, Asteras Tripolis, Larissa and Panionios.

Levadiakos did it the hard way on Thursday as it stared elimination to Apollon Pontou at Thessaloniki, trailing 1-0, before turning things around to win 2-1 and qualify.

In one of the week’s most exciting games PAS Giannina grabbed on Tuesday a 1-1 result at second division leader Aris to leave the popular Thessaloniki club out of the next round.

The last round of games was irrelevant for the main challengers, with Olympiakos drawing 1-1 at Kissamikos Hanion, PAOK thrashing Aiginiakos away (although the match was played in Thessaloniki), Panathinaikos sharing a 1-1 draw wth host Panachaiki, Panionios losing 1-0 at Panaigialios and AEK beating Kallithea 3-2 away.

In other midweek group games it was Ergotelis 0 Panetolikos 5, Apollon Larissas 0 Lamia 2, Sparti 0 Atromitos 4, Panserraikos 1 Xanthi 2 and Anagennisi Karditsas 0 Larissa 0.

The Acharnaikos vs Asteras Tripolis game was a walkover for the Tripoli team as Acharnaikos has withdrawn from the league and the cup.