Vouliagmeni defeated Apollon Smyrnis 10:6 in the derby of the 5th round of the Greek League and extended its winning streak. The derby was very tense, with 36 exclusions, several red cards, etc.
2020/21 Greek League, Day 5
Vouliagmeni – Apollon Smyrnis 10:6 (2:1, 2:0, 3:3, 3:2)
Olympiacos – Panionios 17:5 (3:2, 7:1, 4:0, 3:2)
AEK – Chania 10:8 (4:1, 2:2, 2:3, 2:2)
Palaio Faliro – Ydraikos 14:15 (3:3, 4:3, 3:5, 4:4)
Peristeri – Glyfada 11:7 (2:2, 1:1, 4:1, 4:3)
Chios – Ethnikos 11:8 (3:1, 3:3, 2:1, 3:3)
Volos – PAOK postponed
The tensions started rising a day before the match Vouliagmeni – Apollon. On Thursday, a member of Apollon staff tested positive for coronavirus. Because of that, both teams asked for the postponement of the game. But, on Friday, all players of Apollon underwent testing. All of the tests came back negative, and the Greek Federation didn’t postpone the game, because, under the Health Protocol, the game has to be postponed if there are three or more corona cases at the club. After that, Apollon issued a statement and criticized KOE’s decision. Besides, they said that they couldn’t train a day before the derby. Their pool was closed for disinfection, while the Municipality of Athens refused to open the Goudi Swimming Pool for Apollon’s practice.
Apollon opened the scoring in the derby, with a goal from Solanakis. After that, Vouliagmeni tightened the defense, played well in attack, and earned a 5:1 lead early in the third quarter. Apollon reduced the gap to two in the fourth quarter (5:7), but the hosts regained a 4-goal lead (9:5). Apollon’s Nikola Moskov scored for 6:9. He had a great chance to cut the deficit to 7:9, but he missed it. In fact, he punched Vouliagmeni goalkeeper Tzortzatos in that action and was excluded without substitution due to a brutality foul. It happened two minutes before the end. Vouliagmeni earned a penalty shot, but Apollon goalie Galanidis blocked a shot from Giouvetsis. A minute and a half before the end, another Apollon’s player was sent off. Dermitzakis received a red card for pushing Lozina (after Lozina received the 3rd exclusion for fouling Dermitzakis). So, Apollon played with two fewer players in the last 90 seconds. After that exclusion, Kourovanis scored from a penalty shot for 10:6.
The tensions didn’t subside after the last goal. Vouliagmeni head coach Hrvoje Koljanin was red-carded for a protest 51 seconds before the end. Earlier, Koljanin’s assistants were excluded also for protesting, as well as players of Apollon Gounas and Vitales. Besides, the fourth quarter saw one double exclusion – Solanakis (Apollon) and Gouvis (Vouliagmeni)
Vouliagmeni scorers: Giouvetsis 2, Kalogeropoulos 2, Lozina 2, Mylonakis 1, Alafragkis 1, Troulos 1. N. Kourovans 1. Apollon: Solanakis 2, Mitrovic 1, Moskov 1, Gounas 1, Chatzikyriakakis 1.
Olympiacos cruised to a 17:5 win over Panionios. Max Irving was the best scorer with four goals.
AEK celebrated its historic first win in the Greek A1 League. The newcomer beat Chania 10:8. Nikola Vukcevic (4 goals) led AEK to this landmark achievement.
Ydraikos defeated last-placed Palaio Faliro narrowly (15:14). Ydraikos, which will start in the Champions League qualifications in ten days, led 11:10 before the final eight minutes. In the fourth period, they increased the advantage to 14:11. But, the hosts came back (13:14). Ydraikos doubled an advantage (15:13), And Palaio Faliro scored the consolation goal after that. Ydraikos played without two Russians Statsenko and Frolov. The best scorer in the winning team was Papasifakis (5 goals). Tsolakoudis scored five goals for Palaio Faliro, Hooper added four.
An encounter between Volos and PAOK has been postponed for reasons related to the restrictive measures for COVID -19, the Greek Federation announced.
1.Vouliagmeni 5 – 15
2. Peristeri 5 – 13
3. Olympiacos 5 – 12
4. Ydraikos 5 – 12
5. Apollon 5 – 9
6. Chania 5 – 9
7. Panionios 5 – 6
8. Chios 5 – 6
9. PAOK 4 – 4
10. AEK 5 – 4
11. Glyfada 5 – 3
12. Ethnikos 5 – 3
13. Volos 4 – 3
14. Palaio Faliro 5 – 1
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