Olympiakos wins fourth game in a row, stays tops

Captain Predrag Djordjevic scored one goal and assisted on another and Olympiakos beat Akratitos 2-0 to maintain its perfect start in the Greek league with four straight wins. Djordjevic opened the scoring in the 24th minute before setting up Cypriot striker Michalis Konstantinou for his first goal of the season in the 27th. Olympiakos has not conceded a goal and has 12 points from four matches. Also Saturday, Panathinaikos won its first match of the season by beating Panionios 3-0. Panathinaikos, last season’s runner-up, was in 12th place ahead of this game. Both matches were played in empty stadiums because of fan violence in previous league games. Olympiakos got off to a sluggish start against a defense-minded Akratitos side. The defending champion almost fell behind in the 13th when Akratitos’s Argentine striker, Lucas Defrancesco, had a shot cleared off the line by Thanassis Kostoulas. Djordjevic gave Olympiakos the lead with a blistering shot from the edge of the box from a perfect pass by Brazilian star Rivaldo. Three minutes later, Konstantinou doubled the lead after heading in Djordjevic’s free kick. Akratitos almost pulled a goal back in the 82nd, but Kostoulas was there again to clear another Defrancesco shot off the line. Panathinaikos, considered a title contender, took an early lead in the sixth minute when former Panionios striker Vangelis Mantzios headed in Flavio Conceicao’s free kick. It was Mantzios’s first goal of the season. The hosts doubled the lead in the 15th when Ezequiel Gonzales fired in from close range, and Yiannis Goumas sealed the victory with a thumping header in the 37th. In yesterday’s matches it was: Xanthi 1 Levadiakos 0; Larissa 0 AEK 1; Ionikos 2 Kallithea 1; OFI 0 Iraklis 1; PAOK 2 Aegaleo 0.