'The Alpha Ethiniki 2002–03 season was the 44th in its history and was won by Olympiacos, their 32nd league title. Olympiacos and Panathinaikos finished the League with the same points total but Olympiacos were crowned champions due to more favourable results between the two teams. It was a very dramatic end to the season, with the deciding game between the two clubs taking place in the second to last round.

[edit] Olympiacos - Panathinaikos match

The football game that decided the championship in Greece took place at Rizoupoli Stadium in Athens on 11 May 2003. Before the kick-off, Panathinaikos had a three-point lead at the top of the table with 67 points, with Olympiacos behind them with 64. Panathinaikos had previously beaten Olympiacos by a score of 3–2 at the Apostolos Nikolaidis Stadium, meaning they needed just a draw to secure the title. A loss by one goal would have meant the champion would be decided by an extra playoff fixture held on a neutral ground.

In the third minute of the match, Giovanni scored with a header and 12 minutes later, Stelios Giannakopoulos doubled the tally for Olympiacos. Two minutes after half-time, Giannakopoulos scored again with an excellent header after a Predrag Đorđević free-kick. Panathinaikos were unable to react during the whole game and Olympiacos duly delivered on that day. The 3–0 victory gave Olympiacos the advantage over their arch-rival on goal difference as they were then equal in points.

Olympiacos won the championship on the final fixture against Skoda Xanthi with a 5–1 victory. This championship was very important to the Reds as they conquered their seventh consecutive championship (1997–2003), breaking its previous record of six consecutive titles.

[edit] Match details

11 May 2003	Olympiacos	3 – 0	Panathinaikos	Georgios Kamaras Stadium, Athens Attendance: 16,500 Referee: Giorgos Borovilos
	Giovanni  3' Giannakopoulos  15'  47'

Olympiacos

Panathinaikos

OLYMPIACOS: GK 22 Fanis Katergiannakis DF 5 Giorgos Amanatidis 60' DF 3 Stelios Venetidis DF 18 Paraskevas Antzas DF 19 Thanasis Kostoulas MF 8 Christian Karembeu MF 20 Par Zetterberg MF 11 Predrag Đorđević (c) MF 7 Stelios Giannakopoulos FW 10 Giovanni 73' FW 9 Lambros Choutos 65' Substitutions: DF 32 Giorgos Anatolakis 60' MF 21 Andreas Niniadis 46' FW 23 Peter Ofori-Quaye 73' Manager: Oleg Protasov Assistant Referees: Fourth Official:

PANATHINAIKOS: GK 1 Antonis Nikopolidis DF 5 Giourkas Seitaridis 75' DF 30 Takis Fyssas DF 2 Rene Henriksen DF 16 Sotiris Kyrgiakos MF 26 Giorgos Karagounis MF 20 Angelos Basinas (c) MF 12 Jan Michaelsen 52' FW 11 Joonas Kolkka 52' FW 21 Nikos Lyberopoulos FW 23 Emmanuel Olisadebe Substitutions: DF 15 Daniel Šarić 75' DF 8 Giannis Goumas 52' FW 19 Michalis Konstantinou 52' Manager: Sergio Markarian

[edit] References

• Greek Wikipedia
• Official Greek FA site
• Greek SuperLeague official site
• SuperLeague Statistics

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