Soccer-Panathinaikos stretch lead as AEK lose

By Barney Spender

ATHENS, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Panathinaikos stretched their lead at the top of the Greek Super League to four points after beating Veria 1-0 on Saturday.

Austria captain Andreas Ivanschitz scored the only goal of the game when he fired home a direct free kick from 20 metres in the 71st minute.

The win puts Panathinaikos, who face Rangers in the UEFA Cup next week, on 46 points, four clear of AEK Athens who slipped to a surprise 1-0 defeat at the hands of Larissa. It was their second successive league loss.

AEK had Portuguese defender Geraldo Alves sent off after 64 minutes and their fate was sealed 11 minutes from time by Polish striker Maciej Zurawski who scored his first goal for Larissa since joining from Celtic in the transfer window.

Third-placed Olympiakos Piraeus, who will go second if they beat Panionios on Sunday, had a boost when a Super League disciplinary panel ordered last week's match against Apollon Kalamaria to be replayed.

Olympiakos, who lost the game 1-0, lodged a complaint when it emerged that Apollon's Austrian striker Roman Wallner, who joined the club in January, had already played for Scottish sides Falkirk and then Hamilton on loan.

Olympiakos argued that this was a breach of FIFA rules that only allow a player to turn out for two sides in one season.

Apollon insisted that all the relevant football bodies had cleared the transfer and that the loan spell at Hamilton should not have been taken into account.