Xanthi strolls to Cup victory in Crete

By: Peter Katsiris | January 16th, 2009

Skoda Xanthi joined Panathinaikos as the small contingent qualified sides for the quarterfinals of the Greek Cup on Thursday, as the Thracian side strolled to a 3-0 victory over Ergotelis in Crete. It was a dynamite performance for Xanthi, who have scored only eleven goals in seventeen Super League games thus far.

Both sides stayed rather competitive in the first half, but the half-time score should have been in favour for the visitors as Xanthi wasted several opportunities to grab the lead.

Their luck changed after the interval, and in timely fashion Xanthi seized the lead through a bit of misfortunes on Ergotelis’ front. Charilaos Pappas played a pass into the Cretan box, but the harmless aerial cross turned lethal when Junior’s attempt to clear the ball backfired and ended up in Iosif Daskalakis’ goal.

It wasn’t long before Xanthi made it 2-0, but this time Giorgos Paraschos’ side didn’t rely on the misfortunes of their opponents. Once again it was Pappas who was the catalyst in the play, the former Olympiacos striker provided a ball for striking partner Victor Agali, and the Nigerian easily beat Daskalakis to prematurely clinch Xanthi’s progress.

While everything was going to plan for the visitors, Stavros Stathakis’ second yellow on seventy-eight minutes put a damper on celebrations as the Greek defender was sent off to leave Xanthi with only ten men.

Despite being shorthanded, all signs pointed to the next round for Xanthi, as the side nicknamed the Queen of Thrace made the win even more impressive when Nabil Taider added a third deep in stoppage time. The Tunisian midfielder received a pass from Agali and with quick feet sprung a hard shot past Daskalakis to put the icing on the cake for Xanthi.