Leaders Panathinaikos win with little Drama
Reuters - Sunday 29 January 2012, 21:46
A goal from Spanish forward Toche
earned Super League leaders Panathinaikos a 1-0 win at bottom
side Doxa Drama on Sunday as they retained a five-point lead
over nearest rivals Olympiakos Pireaus.
Jesualdo Ferreira's Panathinaikos side dominated the match
against Drama, who have just six points from 15 matches this
season, but could only take one of their many chances after 58
minutes when Toche converted Quincy's cross from the right.
"We have now completed a marathon period of matches and
things are looking good for us at the moment," Ferreira told
reporters, referring to their seven matches in January.
"We've had injuries to deal with and my players are tired
but they are dealing with the pressure well."
Panathinaikos' fifth 1-0 win in their last six matches took
them to 48 points from 19 games ahead of champions Olympiakos
who won 3-0 at home to nine-man Ergotelis on Saturday.
Marco Pantelic, Olof Mellberg and Giannis Fetfatzidis were
on target for Ernesto Valverde's side, who struggled until
Ergotelis had Mario Hieblinger and Aandreas Bouchalakis sent off
midway through the second half for two bookable offences.
PAOK Salonica moved a point clear of AEK Athens into third
place after an impressive 2-0 away win over the Yellows at the
Olympic Stadium in Sunday's late kickoff.
Laszlo Boloni's PAOK were the more energetic and inventive
side in a tight match won by two moments of attacking quality.
The first came after 16 minutes when Giorgos Georgiadis
curled home a superb goal from the edge of the area after AEK's
Pantelis Kafes had cracked a header off the bar.
The points were sealed for the visitors in the 66th minute
when Stefanos Athanasiadis scored with a neat first-time finish
after being played in by Costin Lazar.