Panathinaikos celebrated its fourth consecutive away victory in twelve days. Rui Vitoria’s Greens, who were coming off victorious over Atromitos for the Cup (1-2), Asteras for the championship (0-1) and New Saints for the Conference (0-2), completed the “square” with a victory in Levadia. Clover defeated Levadiakos 1-0 thanks to a goal by Fotis Ioannidis and remained on top of the Stoiximan Super League championship just before the Christmas break.
Panathinaikos took the reins of the game from the beginning and threatened only in the 5th minute with a powerful header by Ingason after a corner kick by Bakasetas. However, Garavelis made a save. In the 7th minute, Levadiakos found space and went behind Panathinaikos defense, but Ozbolt missed in a one-on-one with Dragowski. The Greens threatened again in the 14th minute as after a corner kick by Bakasetas and the ball being cleared by the Levadeiakos defense, Ounahi took a powerful shot, Ioannidis put his foot down but the ball… scraped Garavelis’ right post, ending up out of play. The match was then played at a slower tempo with the Greens approaching the goal in the 30th minute with a diagonal shot by Ioannidis, which Garavelis blocked with a double effort.
The second half began with a chance for Panathinaikos (48’), but Mancini was unable to score, while Levadeiakos also had a threatening shot with Plegas in the 59th minute but Dragowski was on hand. Ultimately, the Greens’ goal came from a set piece. In the 60th minute, Bakasetas took the corner kicked and Ioannidis headed home the 0-1 goal that was to be the final score. It was Fotis’ first goal in this year’s championship and his second in a row in a few days, as he had also scored in Shrewsbury against New Saints.
The Greens could have sealed the victory early on, as in the 69th-74th minute, Djuricic was the main protagonist, having participated in three classic opportunities. In the 69th minute, the attempted shot went just wide, in the 70th minute, the turn towards the penalty area went just wide of Mancini, who was unable to push the ball into the net, while in the 74th minute, the amazing high-flying shot he took was inches off target. The Greens maintained their lead until the end of the match without being threatened, and at the final whistle, they celebrated the three-point victory in front of the Shamrock’s fans, who were in a strong attendance at Levadia’s stadium.
Levadiakos: Garavelis, Eramouspe (53’ Katris), Vichos, Tsapras, Moreira (76’ Joque), Costi (86’ Romo), Pedrozo, Balci, Mejia (53’ Plegas), Liagas, Ozbolt (53’ Gianniotas).
Panathinaikos: Dragowski, Vagiannidis, Mladenovic (63’ Max), Ingason, Jedvaj, Arao, Ounahi (79’ Maksimovic), Bakasetas, Pellistri (63’ Djuricic), Mancini (79’ Limnios), Ioannidis (87’ Jeremejeff)
