Goals from Enzo Maresca and Luciano Galletti earned title
challenger Olympiakos a 2-1 victory over Larissa in the Greek
league on Sunday.
Olympiakos is second in the standings with 39 points, five
less than Panathinaikos, which beat Xanthi 2-1 on Saturday.
Olympiakos almost scored in the sixth minute when a lob from
inside the area by Costas Mitroglou forced a fingertip save by
Sebastian Viera, while Mitroglou came close again soon afterwards
with a shot.
Larissa's first serious attack came in the 27th minute, with
Sender Puriu sending the ball over Antonis Nikopolidis' bar.
Olympiakos broke the deadlock 10 minutes later, with Italian
midfielder Maresca finding the net following a through ball from
Oscar, while Galletti added a second with his fourth goal of the
season just before halftime.
Larissa, which risks being drawn into the relegation zone,
pushed forward in the second half.
Gaston Casas squandered a clear scoring chance in the 78th
minute with a lob that sailed over Olympiakos' crossbar, but Romeu
made no mistake three minutes later when his shot went in off the
post.
Larissa then launched a series of attacks in the remaining
minutes in a vain search for an equalizer.
Also Sunday, it was: Asteras 1, Kavala 0; Panthrakikos 1,
Giannena 2; Aris 4, Iraklis 2 and AEK 3, Atromitos 3.
