Olympiakos and Panathinaikos played out a very entertaining 1-1 draw at the Karaiskakis Stadium on Saturday that had 17-year-old goalkeeper Stefanos Kapino as a hero.
The Greece goalkeeper proved an insurmountable obstacle for hosts Olympiakos on several occasions and kept Panathinaikos two points ahead of the champions at the table.
Olympiakos dominated most of the game and had about 20 goal efforts, against no more than six by Panathinaikos, but were either let down by its finishing touch or denied by Kapino.
The most remarkable moment was at the 82nd minute, when a David Fuster shot was deflected on Panathinaikos defender Loukas Vyntra and seemed destined for the Panathinaikos goal, only for Kapino to perform an acrobatic dive on his left to spare his team defeat in the derby.
The Greens took the lead at the 17th minute when a solo effort by Quincy Owusu-Abeyie ended in a pinpoint cross to the edge of the six-yard box for Zeca to slot the ball in a score his first goal for Panathinaikos.
The visitors could have gone two up when Sebastian Leto hit the left post of Olympiakos, but then the Reds also were unlucky to hit the Panathinaikos crossbar just before half-time.
They got what they deserved, though, at the start of the second half as Kevin Mirallas beat the challenge of Stergos Marinos to cross the ball to the heart of the Panathinaikos defence for Rafik Djebbour to score the equaliser from about four metres out.
Olympiakos remained the better team for the rest of the game although Panathinaikos did pose some threat on the break. The latter will be happier with the result given that they have remained unbeaten after facing their main opponent away.
Earlier in the day AEK defeated Asteras Tripolis 2-0 at home to reach up to 16 points from nine games, four behind leaders Panathinaikos.
AEK scored through Nikos Liberopoulos from close range, at the 13th minute of the first half, and Leonardo 20 minutes into the second. Mario Breska found the woodwork 10 minutes from the end for Asteras Tripolis.
Kerkyra came from behind on Corfu to beat visiting Ergotelis 2-1 for their first win this season.
Ergotelis led through an early Nikos Katsikokeris goal but conceded a controversial penalty that Ilias Ioannou converted and were left with 10 players when Junior clumsily kicked an opponent on the chest just before half-time.
Ioannou completed Kerkyra’s comeback with his second on the night in the second half.
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