Caretakers perform cleanup acts

By: Peter Katsiris | November 10th, 2008

After the early parts of the week saw Frantisek Straka and Angel Pedraza saw OFI and Iraklis respectively hand the Super League bosses pink slips, their temporary replacements pulled through in their new roles as care-taker managers.

On Saturday, Pavlos Adamos took in his full game at the helm of OFI as the Cretan club travelled to Serres. Sitting at the bottom of the Super League standings, OFI knew the time for change was now. With the sacking of Straka stealing midweek headlines, it was time for Adamos to make headlines of his own.

The first half was an indication that both sides struggle to score goals, as Dame N’Doye’s shot on seventeen minutes was the lone opportunity of the half. The on-loan Panathinaikos player fired from long-distance, but the effort was collected easily by Panserraikos keeper Dimitrios Kottaras.

Unlike the quite opening interval, the second half started with a bang as the hosts grabbed the lead through Sambegou Bangoura. The Guinea international beat his markers to an Aristeidis Galanopoulos cross, and finished the play by beating keeper Arkadiusz Malarz with a fine header.

As another loss looked to be around the corner for OFI, the goal did little to distract OFI as the sides were back on level terms fifteen minutes later. Zdravko Popovic was left unmarked, and the Croat beat a stranded Kottaras to equalize for OFI.

One minute later, and OFI grabbed a lead of their own. Once again it was Popovic who was the culprit, as another defensive lapse by Panserraikos victimized the ‘Liontara’. A clever Popovic made good use of the confusion, as a well placed shot from Popovic pushed OFI ahead.

A disgraceful two minutes saw Panserraikos fall from grace, and lose out on three valuable points. Giannis Papakostas’ side blew their chance to add more pain to the Cretan cauldron, while Pavlos Adamos enjoyed a celebratory evening after his first match in charge of the Cretan club.

Panserraikos 1-2 OFI Crete
Bangoura 47′ – Popovic 62′, 63′

Yellow Cards:
Panserraikos – Milenkovic 5′, Aboubakari 54′, Digkozis 72′.
OFI Crete – Barcauan 10′, Stavrakakis 26′, Kounenakis 36′, N’Doye 78′.

Panserraikos (Giannis Papkostas): Kottaras, Galanopoulos, Milenkovic, Pipinis, Georgiadis (66′ Groutstas), Digkozis, Aboubakari, Bangoura, Baykara (74′ Konstantinidis), Gougoulias (66′ Tadic).

OFI Crete (Pavlos Adamos): Malarz, Stavrakakis, Arvanitis (46′ Isa), Barcauan, Pitsos, Kounenakis, Sfakianakis, Roubakis (58′ Kostovski), Simic (69′ Taralidis), Popovic, N’Doye.

Referee: Georgios Giannopoulos

Venue: Serres Stadium, Serres, Greece

Sunday afternoon saw Iraklis – the only winless team in the Super League thanks to OFI’s triumph twenty-four hours earlier – take to the field of Kautanzogleio to face fellow minnows Levadeiakos. With pressure growing on one of Greece’s oldest clubs, club management responded went the sent Angel Pedraza packing.

Promoted in a matter of hours, Rudolfo Borel began his stint as caretaker manager of the centenary club. The visitors, meanwhile, were winless since theire 1-0 win against Asteras Tripolis in September; leaving little room for anything but a victory on Sunday.

The game had barely settled down when Panagiotis Kone registered the first goal of the match on six minutes. Fernando Marques delivered a corner which appeared too difficult for keeper Srdan Blazic, and with the ball loose Kone pounced to head home an early goal for the hosts.

Levadeiakos did very little to eliminate the deficit, as the absence of Eduardo Montoya seemed to be hurting Levadeiakos dearly. A header off a corner taken by Leonardo was Levadiakos’ only decent effort to equalize, but Fernando Machado’s attempt sailed over the crossbar.

The second half produced even less opportunities as Iraklis nearly extended their lead, but Grigoris Papazaxarias’ poorly directed header was didn’t trouble Blazic.

With scoring chances sparse, the physical element of the match grew rapidly. With several fouls, it was only a matter of time until referee Stavros Tritsonis would penalize a culprit. Sure enough judgement came on seventy-seven minutes as on-loan Olympiacos player, Georgios Katsikogiannis, was sent off with a straight red.

Sealing Levadeiakos’ fate, the final whistle went a long way to satisfy the home crowd as Iraklis’ first win of the season sees the ‘Gireos’ force a three-way tie for the final relegation spot.

Iraklis 1-0 Levadeiakos
Kone 6′

Yellow Cards:
Iraklis – Katsambis 24′, Marques 69′, Giantsis 88′, Kovalevski 93′.
Levadeiakos – Georgiev 14′.

Red Cards:
Iraklis – none.
Levadeiakos – Katsikogiannis 77′.

Iraklis (Rudolfo Borel):Kovalevski, Bourbos, Katsambis, Papazaxaris, Giannoulis, Die, Martos, Papasterianos (83′ Garcia), Kone (56′ Epstein), Marques, Agritis (65′ Giantsis).

Levadeiakos (Momcilo Vukotic): Blazic, Moulopoulos, Machado (80′ Tzormbatzakis), Triposteris, Koltzos, Georgiev (46′ Andralas), Zisopoulos, Basala (66′ Katsikogiannis), Leonardo, Dimbala, Bushi.

Referee: Stavros Tritsonis

Venue: Kautanzogleio Stadium, Thessaloniki, Greece