Aris beats host AEK 2-1 in Greek league

ATHENS, Greece (AP) - Darcy Neto scored in each half to help Aris defeat host AEK 2-1 in the Greek league on Saturday.

It was the Thessaloniki club's third away win against AEK in 52 tries. Ismael Blanco had temporarily equalized for AEK.

AEK remains in fourth place, 18 points behind league leader Olympiakos, while Aris climbed to sixth. Also, Iraklis prevailed 2-1 at Panserraikos and Asteras drew 1-1 at home with Larissa.

Neto, a Brazilian defender, created most of the scoring chances in a largely listless game. In the 18th minute, his powerful shot from the edge of the area went just wide.

Eleven minutes later, he received a perfect throughball from Michel to open the scoring. AEK equalised in the 51st when Blanco met Scocco's cross from the left and volleyed home his eighth goal of the season.

AEK kept attacking but had only one major chance, when goalkeeper Michalis Sifakis saved from Papa Bouba Diop's powerful shot two minutes from time.

Earlier, in the 76th, Neto dribbled past Diop and scored the winner with a powerful shot from the edge of the area.

On Sunday, it's Ergotelis vs Panionios, Kavala vs. Kerkyra, Volos vs. Atromitos, Olympiakos vs Xanthi and PAOK vs. Panathinaikos.

  

Panathinaikos beats Ergotelis 2-0 in Greek league

ATHENS, Greece (AP): Gilberto Silva and Cedric Kante scored first-half goals to lead defending champion Panathinaikos to a 2-0 victory over visiting Ergotelis in the Greek league on Saturday.

Panathinaikos took the lead in the seventh minute. Jean-Alain Boumsong rose high in Ergotelis' area to meet Sotiris Ninis' corner and head the ball to Gilberto Silva, who scored with a diving header.

In the 38th, Panathinaikos made it 2-0, again with a header from a corner. Cedric Kante rose above the defenders to meet Lazaros Christodoulopoulos' kick and find the net.

Panathinaikos has 44 points, four behind league leader Olympiakos, which travels to Volos on Sunday.

Also Saturday, AEK Athens won 2-0 at Xanthi and Iraklis and Kerkyra played to a scoreless draw.

Panathinaikos dominated the first half, but Ergotelis had a chance to level when a shot by Mario Budimir went just wide in the 15th.

Ergotelis was much more active in the second half, testing Panathinaikos' defense with several through balls that forced Boumsong and Loukas Vyntra to make diving challenges and block shots with their bodies.

In the 60th, Ergotelis midfielder Beto received the ball inside the area off a free kick by Diego Romano, but his header sailed over goalkeeper Alexandros Tzorvas' bar.

On Sunday, it's: Atromitos vs. Asteras, Panionios vs. Kavala, Larissa vs. Panserraikos and Aris vs. PAOK.

  

Olympiakos beats Asteras 1-0, extends league lead

ATHENS, Greece (AP): David Fuster converted a first-half penalty to give Olympiakos a 1-0 win at Asteras in the Greek league on Sunday, extending the team's lead to seven points after Panathinaikos was held to a 1-1 draw at Panionios.

Fuster was fouled by Asteras' Daniel Orozco inside the area, and he stepped up to convert the spot kick in the 30th minute.

At Panionios, Costas Mitroglou opened the scoring for Panionios in the 50th before Djibril Cisse equalized with a penalty five minutes later for his league-leading 17th goal of the season.

Olympiakos has 48 points from 19 games, with Panathinaikos second on 41. PAOK, a 2-1 winner over Xanthi on Saturday, is third on 33 points.

Also Sunday, Kavala beat Iraklis 3-0 to climb to fifth place, Atromitos defeated host Panserraikos 1-0 and Ergotelis and Aris played to a scoreless draw.

Olympiakos had several chances in the first half: Vassilis Torosidis' header being saved by goalkeeper Urko Pardo in the third minute, Fuster's 25th-minute shot from the edge of the area just missing, and Adrian Bastia's attempt in the 43rd grazing a post.

Asteras, however, dominated the opening 15 minutes of the second half, missing three scoring chances, two from Bastia and one from Bruno Urribarri's free kick that went just wide.

Olympiakos went on the attack after the 60th minute, also missing three scoring chances through Fuster. Its best opportunities came when Yiannis Maniatis and Marko Pantelic failed to beat Degra from point-blank range in the 86th.

Panathinaikos attacked early, squandering a ninth-minute chance when a shot by Sidney Govou went just wide.

Panionios weathered the storm and missed two major chances within two minutes through Mitroglou, whom Panionios acquired on loan from Olympiakos two weeks ago.

In the 19th and 20th minutes, Mitroglou found himself alone with goalkeeper Alexandros Tzorvas, who blocked both shots.

In the 44th, Panionios fans threw a number of objects, including a plastic chair, at Panathinaikos midfielder Sebastian Leto, who was taking a corner.

Panionios scored with its first attack of the second half. Jean-Alain Boumsong was poised to intercept Suleiman Omo's cross but fellow defender Cedric Kante headed the ball backward, allowing Mitroglou to pounce and score with a close-range diving header.

Five minutes later, Bernard Kumordji floored Leto inside Panionios' area and Cisse converted the spot kick.

Cisse could have given Panathinaikos the lead in the 75th but his thundering shot hit the post.

  

PAOK beats Xanthi 2-1 to sit 3rd in Greek league

ATHENS, Greece (AP): PAOK beat visiting Xanthi 2-1 to take sole possession of third place in the Greek league after AEK's humiliating 4-0 home loss to newcomer Volos on Saturday.

PAOK moved three points clear of AEK. Leader Olympiakos travels to Asteras on Sunday, when defending champion Panathinaikos visits Panionios. Olympiakos was 5 points ahead of Panathinaikos.

After Stefanos Athanasiadis scored, Mauro Poy equalized for Xanthi, then Dimitris Salpingidis netted the winner for PAOK in the 81st minute.

Also, Kerkyra beat last-place Larissa 1-0. PAOK came close to opening the score in the 16th when a shot by Athanasiadis forced goalkeeper Michael Gspurning to palm away the ball.

Four minutes later, Salpingidis fed Athanasiadis in the Xanthi area but his powerful shot was saved by Gspurning. In the 28th, a powerful shot by Xanthi's Christopher Katongo grazed Costas Halkias' post.

Athanasiadis gave PAOK the lead in the 36th with a shot off a cross by Vieirinha. In the 66th, less than a minute after going in for Diego Quintana, Poy silenced the more than 12,000 PAOK fans in the stadium when he exploited a mistake by Halkias to level.

Nine minutes from time, Salpingidis made the final 2-1 with a powerful shot from inside the area. On Sunday it's Kavala vs. Iraklis, Panserraikos vs. Atromitos and Ergotelis vs. Aris.

  

Cisse leads Panathinaikos to 4-2 win over Kavala

ATHENS, Greece (AP) - Djibril Cisse scored two goals and set up two more to lead defending champion Panathinaikos to a 4-2 victory over Kavala in the Greek league on Sunday.

Costas Katsouranis and Lazaros Christodoulopoulos also scored for Panathinaikos while Djamel Abdoun got both goals for Kavala.

The match was played before empty stands in the 70,000-seat Olympic Stadium with Panathinaikos serving a one-match ban due to violent fan behavior.

Olympiakos beat Panserraikos 4-2 on Saturday and leads the league with 45 points, five more than Panathinaikos.

PAOK and AEK Athens, both 3-0 away winners over Volos and Asteras respectively, share third place with 30 points.

In other games Sunday, visiting Ergotelis beat Xanthi 1-0, Panionios upset host Aris 2-0 and last-place Larissa won for the first time in nine games, beating Iraklis 2-1.

Kavala opened the scoring when Abdoun pounced on Josu Sarriegi's back pass to shoot past goalkeeper Alexandros Tzorvas in the third minute.

The hosts leveled when Cisse passed Loucas Vyntra's long ball on to Katsouranis, who scored from close range in the 12th.

In the 31st, Katsouranis found Cisse in Kavala's area with a through ball.

Goalkeeper Lopez Vallejo parried the French striker's shot but Cisse got the rebound and put Panathinaikos ahead.

Abdoun scored from the penalty spot in the 43rd after his cross was handled by a Panathinaikos defender to level at 2-2.

Cisse hit his league-leading 16th goal of the season from the penalty spot to restore Panathinaikos' lead in the 65th after teammate Sotiris Ninis had been brought down in the area by defender Pierre Ducrocq.

Christodoulopoulos made it 4-2 on a breakaway goal in the 83rd. Stergios Marinos sent a long pass to Cisse on the wing near the halfway line. Cisse outsprinted the defense before squaring inside the area to Christodoulopoulos, who slotted the ball in from close range.

Christodoulopoulos, who had come on for Sidney Govou in the 61st, nearly made it 5-2 in injury time but his shot struck the post.

  

Panathinaikos beats Aris 1-0 in Greek league

ATHENS, Greece (AP): Defending champion Panathinaikos kept the pressure on Greek league leader Olympiakos by beating Aris Thessaloniki 1-0 in its empty stadium on Saturday.

The match was played before empty stands in the 74,000-seat Olympic Stadium as Panathinaikos served a one-match fan ban due to violent fan behavior.

Panathinaikos has 37 points from 17 matches, two behind Olympiakos, which plays at Kerkyra on Sunday.

Also on Saturday, Kavala beat last-place Larissa 1-0.

Panathinaikos scored in its first major attack, in the 19th minute, when Sotiris Ninis volleyed home a Djibril Cisse cross from the right despite the effort of Aris goalkeeper Michalis Sifakis.

Aris had its first serious scoring chance in the 49th when a powerful shot by Darcy Neto, off a cross by Carlos Ruiz, forced Alexandros Tzorvas to leap high and send the ball over his bar.

In the 66th, Aris had a goal disallowed when Ruiz fouled Vyntra before Michel headed into the net.

This served as a wake-up call for Panathinaikos, which upped the pace and, in the space of three minutes, missed three major chances to double the score: In the 73rd, Vyntra crossed from the right and Cisse beat Sifakis in the air but his header went just wide.

A minute later, Cisse again found himself alone with Sifakis from a deep Leto pass, but Aris' goalie saved the French striker's close-range shot with an extended leg. In the 75th, Ninis chested down a deep cross, evaded a defender, and dribbled past another but his shot went just over the crossbar.

Aris' best chance to equalize came in injury time, but Tzorvas made a flying save to Javito's long-range shot that had been deflected by a defender's leg.

On Sunday, it's Ergotelis vs. Volos, Iraklis vs. Atromitos, Panionios vs. Xanthi, PAOK vs. Asteras and Panserraikos vs. AEK.

  

Panathinaikos beats Xanthi 2-0 in Greek league

ATHENS, Greece (AP): Greek champion Panathinaikos scored in the first and last minutes to beat Xanthi 2-0 away and keep the pressure on title rival Olympiakos on Tuesday.

French striker Djibril Cisse lobbed goalkeeper Sotiris Lymberopoulos seconds after kickoff, for his 14th goal of the season.

Xanthi was pegged back for the rest of the match and fell further behind when Lazaros Christodoulopoulos chipped the ball home in stoppage time.

Panathinaikos now has 34 points from 16 games, two behind leader Olympiakos, which hosts Iraklis on Wednesday. Also Tuesday, Atromitos defeated Larissa 3-0, while Aris beat Kavala 1-0.