Panathinaikos vs Olympiakos derby abandoned due to crowd trouble
One more Greek derby, that between Panathinaikos and Olympiakos on Sunday, fell victim of fan violence, as the match at the Olympic Stadium of Athens was abandoned on the 70th minute due to clashes between hooligans and the police.
German referee Marco Fritz decided to stop the game with the score at 1-0 in Olympiakos’s favor due to the chemicals the police used in the clashes outside the stadium, and to the presence of home supporters around the turf that offered the match officials no security for the game to resume.
The match is destined to be awarded to Olympiakos with a 3-0 score and Panathinaikos will likely be deducted six points, three for being at fault for the game’s abandonment and three for the fan riots at the outskirts of the stadium.
Although there were no Olympiakos fans at the stadium – as is always the case in Greek derbies these days – the atmosphere was explosive, with some 15-20 fans bearing no club jerseys or scarves invading the area surrounding the pitch and attacked the Olympiakos bench and clashed with the visitors’ officials on the fifth minute of the game. Olympiakos alleged that one of the invaders bore a knife.
The match resumed after a 10-minute stoppage and flowed peacefully until the 53rd minute, when Miguel Angel Guerrero scored for Olympiakos. A number of Panathinaikos hardcore left the terrace and clashed with police a few meters out of the stadium. The riot police used stun grenades and tear gas to disperse the hooligans, with the chemicals traveling to inside the Olympic Stadium.
The referee and the player managed to wait until the completion of the 69th minute, but the atmosphere was unbearable and the match was temporarily and then definitively abandoned.
In the rest of the Super League grounds, where proper soccer was played, PAOK came from behind to beat host Panetolikos 2-1 at Agrinio with a 40-yard screamer by Adelino Vieirinha and a header by Leo Matos. Admir Bajrovic had given the Agrinio team the lead from the penalty spot.
PAOK now needs eight points in the last five games to clinch the title. It remains seven points ahead of Olympiakos, and 20 ahead of third-placed AEK that defeated fourth Atromitos 1-0 away through a late Christos Albanis goal.
OFI beat Levadiakos 2-0 in Crete and Panionios downed Xanthi 1-0 at home, while the matches of Asteras Tripolis against Lamia and PAS Giannina against Larissa finished goalless.
On Monday Aris hosts Apollon Smyrnis.
