Super League Review – Saturday Edition: Larissa, Aris claim slim wins

By: Peter Katsiris | February 1st, 2009

It was a night of slim proportions in the Greek Super League on Saturday, as the two scheduled fixtures ended in slim wins for the travelling contingent. In Crete, a struggle between OFI Crete and Larissa finished with the latter sneaking a 2-1 at the death. On the mainland, the most recent edition of the Thessaloniki derby between Aris and Iraklis ended with the former collecting maximum points at the Kafatanzogleio Stadium.

Cretan Misery continues
Larissa travelled south to Crete to kick off the weekend’s football festivities, but it was a series of late goals that dominated the story line from Greece’s largest island.

OFI grabbed the lead on eighty-one minutes through a sweet strike from Zdravko Popovic. The Croatian worked hard to collect the loose ball and fend off his markers, to allow enough time to release a curling shot from the edge of the box past Stefanos Kotsolis and into the net.

The lead didn’t last long, however, as Larissa climbed back to level terms in about a minutes time. A long ranged free-kick from Giorgos Fotakis, was headed in by a sleek Stelios Giannakopoulos. The Cretan crowd was silenced by the former Greece international, as OFI went from being on track for a crucial win to settling for a miserable point.

Disappointment turned into agony soon afterwards, as Giannakopoulos struck for his second of the match deep into stoppage time. Once again it was an aerial effort that beat OFI ‘keeper Arkadiusz Malarz, as another assist from Fotakis was converted by Larissa’s most recent high profile signing.

It was a stunning final fifteen minutes, as an untouched scoreboard change in the final minutes of the match, but much to the dismay of the majority of fans on hand, the Pankritio Stadium scoreboard at full-time allowed supporters of the ‘Vyssini’ to celebrate a victory.

Battion heads home derby win for Aris
Aris ended a long winless skid with a 1-0 win over city rivals Iraklis. Roberto Battion sent a header oast Wojciech Kowalewski to seal three point for the travelling, who were narrowly edged by PAOK in the Greek Cup during midweek.

While they had several chances to put the game beyond reach, it was a late and clever touch that gave Aris its first win since December.

Meanwhile, Iraklis failed to extend the gap on relegation zone, and allowed fellow defeated side OFI to breathe a sigh of relief on Saturday evening.