Three teams continued their unbeaten run in the Greek championships in the 8th round.
Olympiacos firmly holds first place in Group A with 8 victories in as many games.
Apollon and Vouliagmeni have perfect records in Group B. However, these two teams haven’t faced each other yet, so we still have no answer about which of the rivals is better. Vouliagmeni, the Champions League club, is the favorite, but let’s wait for the first encounter between the leaders in Group B, which should answer the question of who is better.
The three mentioned teams collected the points in the 8th round in one-sided contests, but there were exciting games last weekend. The games in Glyfada and in the island of Chios were very dramatic.
2022/23 Greek Men’s League, Day 8
Group A
Olympiacos – Panionios 19:10 (6:2, 5:1, 3:3, 5:4)
Olympiacos: Genidounias 4, Fountoulis 3, Mourikis 3, Filipovic 2, Papanastasiou 2, Gkillas 2, T.Dimos 2,Buslje 1.
Panionios: Gkiouvetsis 2, Bitadze 2, Dalapas 2, Papakos 2, Gounas 2.
Chios – Ethnikos 8:9 (1:4, 1:1, 2:1, 4:3)
Chios: Pappas 3, Halajian 2, Karakasis 2, Hatzistefanou 1.
Ethnikos: Katsagounos 2, Papadogonas 2, Vitellas 2, Mathiopoulos 2, Beristianos 1.
Panathinaikos – Nireas Chalandriou 8:6 (1:1, 5:1, 1:3, 1:1)
Panathinaikos: Dermitzakis 3, Hatzigoulas 2, Zervoudakis 2, Kandanoleon 1.
Nireas Chalandriou: Papadimitriou 4, Danourdis 1, Pantazopoulos 1.
AEK – Ydraikos 10:5 (4:1, 3:1, 2:2, 1:1)
AEK: Vukcevic 3, Araya 3, Marinagis 2, Stelatis 1, Stamelos 1.
Ydraikos: Robopoulos 2, Suzuki 1, Garanis 1, Blanis 1.
After a great win over Pro Recco (9:7) at the start of the Champions League, Olympiacos continued its winning streak with a 19:10 victory over the 2nd-placed Panionios. This game was a derby, but just on paper. Olympiacos dominated from the beginning. At halftime, it stood 11:3. Genidounias opened the second half with a goal from a penalty shot. Fountoulis added an action goal for 13:3. In the remaining time, Olympiacos didn’t care much about defense. It maintained a 10-goal difference until the 31st minute when Panionios’ Papakos set the final score – 19:10.
Ethnikos beat Chios 9:8. This was a game with two different halves. Ethnikos had led 6:2 early in the third quarter . Then, the visitors’ defense weakened. Chios managed to cut the deficit to one goal in the fourth quarter (5:6, 6:7). Still, Ethnikos responded after each of the two goals and doubled its advantage. Chios made it 8:9 with 47 seconds remaining on the clock by converting a man-up. Ethnikos didn’t reply with a goal this time but saved a minimal advantage and three points.
Panathinaikos keeps 3rd place. The Green-Whites beat Nireas Chalandriou 8:6. It wasn’t a thrilling game. Panathinaikos took control in the second quarter and built a 6:2 lead. The hosts stretched the margin to five in the third period (7:2). Nireas Chalandriou did everything to come back and narrowed the distance before the final eight minutes (5:7). In the middle of the fourth, Hatzigoulas netted for 8:5. The visitors’ 6th goal came too late, just 15 seconds before the final buzzer.
AEK, led by Vukcevic and Araya, easily beat Ydraikos. Early in the third period, AEK built a 6-goal lead (8:2) and didn’t let the rival endanger their big lead.
1.Olympiacos 8 – 24
2.Panionios 8 – 18
3. Panathinaikos 8 – 16
4. Ethnikos 8 – 12
5. AEK 8 – 9
6. Ydriaikos 8 – 9
7. Chios 8 – 4
8. Nireas Chalandriou 8 – 2
Group B
Apollon Smyrnis – Chania 16:8 (4:0, 4:4, 4:2, 4:2)
Apollon Smyrnis: Gardikas 5, Solanakis 3, Alamanos 1, Bogdanovic 1, Mokkas 1, Goniotakis 1, Diplaros 1, Chondrokoukis 1, Tourkomenis 1, Myrilos 1.
Chania: Charitakis 3, Apostolakis 2, Mazokopakis 2, Soleimanipak 1.
PAOK – Vouliagmeni 8:19 (3:3, 2:4, 2:6, 1:6)
PAOK: Milradovic 3, Kechalaris 2, Kapragos 1, Kalargyros 1, P.Prosiniklis 1.
Vouliagmeni: Kapotsis 4, Kalogeropoulos 3, Papasifakis 3, Almyras 3, Woodhead 2, Troulos 1, Nikolaidis 1, Farmer 1, Giannatos 1.
Glyfada – Peristeri 6:7 (3:1, 2:0, 0:2, 1:4)
Glyfada: Angortsas 2, Tsatalios 2, Gardijan 1, Giannopoulos 1
Peristeri: Karuntzos 2, Kazazis 1, Prekas 1, Gerakoudis 1, Koukoumakis 1, Tsachilides 1.
Ilysiakos – Palaio Faliro 5:9 (1:3, 0:4, 2:2, 2:0)
Ilysiakos: Arai 3, Lembesis 1, Karaviotis 1.
Palaio Faliro: Kochelas 2, Kokkinos 1, Kourliaftis 1, Tot 1, G.Papadopoulos 1, Mavrakis 1, Koukounas 1, Kalis 1.
Apollon and Vouliagmeni beat their respective rivals with ease. Apollon proved too strong for Chania. Vouliagmeni ran over PAOK in Thessaloniki – 19:8, despite a slow start (3:3 in the first quarter).
Peristeri follows Apollon and Vouliagmeni. It kept 3rd place after a narrow win against Glyfada. Peristeri earned a win after a big comeback. Glyfada played brilliantly in defense in the first half and had a 5:1 lead at halftime. It seemed that Peristeri couldn’t avoid defeat. Still, the teams switched roles after the middle break. The visitors started coming back. Their defense was superb in the third and fourth quarters. They caught up with Glyfada at the finish of the game – 6:6. But, that wasn’t the end. Gerakoudis scored a winner with 28 seconds to go. Peristeri recorded a 7:6 win and took revenge for a home 8:9 loss to Glyfada in the 1st round.
Palaio Faliro was convincing in the match against Ilysiakos. Four goals separated the rivals at the end of the game. Palaio Faliro had an 8:1 advantage at the beginning of the second half. After that, the visitors slowed down, and Ilysiakos, the only team with no points after eight rounds, reduced the gap.
1.Apollon 7 – 21
2. Vouliagmeni 6 – 18
3. Peristeri 7 – 15
4. Glyfada 8 – 12
5. PAOK 8 – 12
6. Palaio Faliro 8 – 9
7. Chania 8 – 3
8. Ilysiakos 8 – 0
