Local derby draws for PAOK and Olympiakos

PAOK and Olympiakos dropped their first points this season, in their local derbies, with PAOK leaving it very late to avoid a home loss to Aris and Olympiakos conceding a late equalizer at the Derby of Eternal Rivals on Sunday to draw with host Panathinaikos.

The 1-1 draw at the Olympic Stadium between the Greens and the Reds was a fair result and was probably the first time Panathinaikos performed well this season against a rather tired Olympiakos, four days after the Piraeus team drew with Tottenham in the Champions League.

The Reds edged ahead with Miguel Angel Guerrero on the 36th minute in a very quiet first half, as the Spaniard shot unmarked after a Costas Tsimikas cross.

Panathinaikos earned a penalty on the hour mark, Federico Macheda took it, but keeper Jose Sa dived and saved it. The assistant referee flagged the Portuguese for allegedly moving early off his line, but the German referee watched the video and validated Sa’s save.

However the Greens got a second spot kick two minutes from the end, and this time substitute Yohan Mollo made no mistake to make it all square.

The derby was particularly peaceful, but that was mainly due to the boycott by the die-hard Panathinaikos fans of the “Gate 13” firm: Instead of attending the match they held a rally outside the historic home of Panathinaikos, at Alexandras Avenue, that attracted a few thousand people and called on owner Yiannis Alafouzos to give the reins of the club to its amateur division that runs Panathinaikos’ teams in other sports.

A goal seven minutes into injury time saw PAOK preserve its unbeaten record of the last 18 months in the league drawing 2-2 in the Thessaloniki derby with Aris on Sunday. Brown Ideye gave Aris a third-minute lead but Leo Matos equalized two minutes on.

With both Thessaloniki rivals down to 10 men, Javier Matilla put Aris back in front on the 87th before Josip Misic calmed nerves at Toumpa deep into time added on.

PAOK and Olympiakos are tied on top of the tsable with 10 points.

AEK is joint third after downing host Panetolikos 1-0 on Saturday thanks to a Marko Livaja strike, while 10-man Xanthi suffered its first defeat losing 3-0 at Larissa. AEK and Xanthi are joined on nine points by Volos, that saw off visiting OFI 1-0 on Saturday.

In other games, Asteras got off the mark beating Atromitos 2-1 in Tripoli and Panionios snatched a point at Lamia with a 92nd-minute goal (1-1).