Lambriakos send-off tarnished as Panionios hold Xanthi

By: Peter Katsiris | January 5th, 2009

Despite Stavros Lampriakos marking the end of his footballing career on Saturday, Skoda Xanthi was unable to send its team leader into retirement on winning note as the ‘Queen of Thrace’ played out a scoreless at draw against Panionios in Xanthi. Poor performance by the front line of both sides, and in addition solid defending, resulted in a dull match in Northern Greece.

After honouring Lampriakos for his seven-and-a-half year service with the Thracian club, Xanthi looked hungry to race ahead in the early minutes as Giorgos Paraschos’ side pressured Panionios early and often.

The first chance of the match came off a corner on five minutes with Spyros Vallas nearly converting Rafal Grzelak’s cross past Panionios ‘keeper Dario Kresic.

Argentine Mauro Poy had the next best chance for the host, but like Vallas he too sent his effort wide of Kresic’s goal.

On fourteen minutes Panionios protested for a penalty but it was to no avail, and quite rightly so as the replay showed Grigoris Makos took a bit of dive inside the Xanthi box.

It took nearly fifteen minutes for Panionios to register its first opportunity of the match, when Giannis Maniatis headed a cross from Evangelos Koutsopoulos over the bar.

Further on and a lack of accuracy continued to plague both clubs, as the majority of every rush into either attacking third of the pitch resulted in a shot off target.

With no sign of a breakthrough in store, both sides headed into halftime scoreless and aware that only forty-five minutes were left to grab a goal.

Though the first half hosted many wasteful chances, there were certainly enough opportunities for either side to deposit a breakthrough. The same, however, couldn’t be said for the second half; a match known for its slow pace in the opening forty five minutes, came to a screeching halt at times in the second half as a congested midfield battle formed shortly after the restart.

Xanthi again initiated attack in the second half, with Poy’s cross towards Souanis mirroring Vallas’ opening effort as it trickled wide of Kresic’s cage.

Near the final twenty minutes of the match is when the next chance of the frame came, and it was Xanthi who yet again looked to etch a tally on the scoreboard. Much to the dismay of the few supporters in the stands, Grzelak fired wide despite having plenty of time and space to release an optimum effort.

Panionios continued to be on the backfoot, but there was little to fear as Vallas missed a chance before Panionios’ own Michael Delura wasted an opportunity ahead of the start of stoppage time.

The German striker was then booked for the second time on the night moments after his wasteful chance. Leaving the visitors with just ten men, Xanthi looked to have a late strength in numbers tilted its way until Giannis Papadimitriou levelled the playing field when he too was sent off on ninety minutes.

Another wasteful night in front of goal extended Xanthi winless run to eight games, while Panionios stretched its unbeaten run to four games.

Skoda Xanthi 0-0 Panionios

Yellow Cards:
Skoda Xanthi – Kostoulas 25′, Vallas 67′, Papadimitriou 72′ (90′), Grzelak 74′, Lambriakos 90′+.
Panionios – Kondi 35′, Delura 42′, (88′), Kresic 60′.

Red Cards:
Skoda Xanthi – Papadimitriou 90′ (sent off after double booking).
Panionios – Delura 88′ (sent off after double booking).

Skoda Xanthi (Giorgos Paraschos): Gspurning, Papadimitriou, Souanis (63′ Pappas), Taider, Grzelak, Vallas, Zouela. Kostoualas, Maciel (46′ Lambriakos), Poy, Ferrier (80′ Dorival).

Panionios (Panagiotis Stamatopoulos): Kresic, Maniatis, Skoufalis (90′+ Siovas), Koutsopoulos (70′ Berthe), Makos, Delura, Majstorovic, Barkoglou (46′ Kiliaras), Kondi, Nikolaou, Tzavelas.

Referee: Giorgos Daloukas

Venue: Skoda Xanthi Arena, Pigadia, Greece.