AEK, Olympiakos draw 1-1, share league lead

Posted Sunday, October 16, 2011 by YAHOO Sport

ATHENS, Greece (AP)—Leonardo’s 43rd-minute goal salvaged a 1-1 draw for AEK Athens against visiting Olympiakos in the Greek league Saturday.

The defending champion had opened the scoring 20 minutes earlier through Kevin Mirallas.

A minute after its equalizer, AEK lost forward Eidur Gudjohnsen with a leg injury after a collision with Olympiakos goalkeeper Franco Costanzo. AEK officials announced the 33-year-old Iceland international had fractured the tibia and fibula bones in his right leg and will undergo surgery on Sunday. Recovery time will be determined after the operation, the club said.

Gudjohnsen’s was not the only injury: Olympiakos midfielder David Fuster broke a rib and will miss Wednesday’s Champions League clash with Borussia Dortmund and AEK defender Nikos Georgeas injured his thigh.

Olympiakos and AEK share first place with 10 points, along with Atromitos, which drew 2-2 at last-place Kerkyra in the league’s other game.

The game at Athens’ Olympic Stadium was tense from the start, with referee Petros Konstadineas showing four yellow cards in the first 16 minutes. He showed nine overall, including second bookings to dismiss AEK’s Grigoris Makos and Olympiakos’ Francois Modesto late in the game.

AEK was livelier in the early going, missing two scoring chances. In the 17th minute, Costanzo blocked Gudjohnsen’s long-range effort and, a minute later, Nikos Lyberopoulos just missed connecting with Leonardo’s cross in front of an empty goal.

Olympiakos scored in its first serious attack in the 23rd. Mirallas took a pass from Rafik Djebbour, burst into the area and dribbled past two defenders before unleashing a curling shot just past the lunging AEK goalkeeper Yiannis Arabatzis.

In the 41st, Lyberopoulos connected with a Leonardo cross but Costanzo made a diving save to deny him.

Two minutes later, Cala won the ball in midfield and found Leonardo, who beat Olympiakos defender Avraam Papadopoulos and unleashed a curling shot from outside the area to equalize.

The two teams only had one shot at goal each in a listless second half. AEK came closest to scoring in the 86th, but Makos’s drive sailed just over the bar.

On Sunday, it’s Xanthi vs. Panathinaikos, Giannena vs. Panionios, Ergotelis vs. Aris and PAOK vs. OFI.