Olympiakos dodge flares to go top in Greece

"I simply cannot get used to seeing these things at the end of matches; I continue to be shocked each time," said Olympiakos's Spanish coach Ernesto Valverde.

"I don't know if this win will prove to be the one that gives us the title. If we had lost, you could have said that this was the game that deprived us of it [the title]. From here on in everything remains open and every match will be vital."

Jose Holebas put Olympiakos ahead with a stunning long range effort on the stroke of half-time while Turkey forward Kazim Kazim doubled the advantage with a tap-in nine minutes after the break.

Olympiakos, on 55 points from 23 matches, are one point ahead of Panathinaikos who slipped to a 2-0 home defeat by PAOK Salonika.

Panathinaikos coach Jesualdo Ferreira lamented that his team were beaten in an empty Olympic Stadium in a match which was played behind closed doors as punishment for fans behavior following a recent defeat at Levadiakos.

"Playing without fans is not a punishment for the fans, it is a penalty for football," the Portuguese told reporters after goals from Lino and Dimitris Salpigidis handed PAOK victory.

"The Hellenic Football Federation must find another way to punish bad behavior of fans. Is it just our fans that are always badly behaved? I don't understand it."