AEK beats Panaitolikos 2-0 to lead Greek league

Posted Sunday, November 27, 2011 by YAHOO Sport

ATHENS, Greece (AP)—Steve Leo Beleck scored a goal in each half to lead AEK Athens to a 2-0 victory at newcomer Panaitolikos in the Greek league on Saturday.

The win puts AEK on top of the standings with 22 points from 11 games. Panathinaikos, which hosts OFI Sunday, is two points behind but with three games in hand.

Also Sunday, it’s: Levadiakos vs. Drama; Panionios vs. Aris; Xanthi vs. Atromitos; and Asteras vs. Olympiakos

In other games Saturday, Ergotelis beat visiting Giannena 2-1 and PAOK stumbled at home against lowly Kerkyra, being limited to a scoreless draw.

Panaitolikos was more aggressive early on but AEK came closest to scoring in the 15th when a powerful shot by Leonardo drew an acrobatic save from goalkeeper Srdjan Blazic. Three minute later Leonardo had a powerful shot which went wide.

AEK took the lead in the 21st when Beleck shot from inside the area off a cross from Nikos Lyberopoulos.

In the 35th, Panaitolikos came close to leveling but Angelos Charisteas’ header off a cross by Henri Camara went wide.

Panaitolikos came out attacking in the second half but was ineffective in front of goal. In the 79th, the hosts were left with 10 players when Habib Bamongo got a direct red card for a late tackle from behind.

Four minutes later, AEK lost Lyberopoulos through injury but was still able to take advantage of its numerical superiority. A minute into injury time, Victor Klonaridis made a run on the left and shot from a tight angle. Blazic parried the ball before Beleck scored his third goal of the season from close range.