The penalty that changed the week
Apollon Kalamarias beat PAS Pyrgos 1–0 in Superbet League 2, and the goal came from the spot. Dimitris Kyriakidis converted in the 79th minute (1) (2) (7). It was the club's second home win of the season, and it lifted the team to 7th in the table (6). A week that had started with two dropped points ended with three points banked.
One penalty should not decide a season, but this one decided a mood. A draw and a win is a different week from two draws, and the difference came down to eleven steps and one player keeping his nerve in the rain (2).
Zakynthos, and the goal Apollon could not hold
Five days earlier, Zakynthos 1–1 Apollon Kalamarias at the Grigoris Lambrakis ground in Kallithea (3) (14) (16). Christos Kryparakos, Zakynthos's most recent signing, equalised in the 85th minute (9) (17). Apollon had the lead and lost it in the last five minutes. A 1–1 away from home is not a crisis, but it is not the draw the club wanted either.
Get the next Apollon Kalamaria brief by email
This article went out to subscribers as a brief. Get the next one straight to your inbox, free.
Free · No spam · Unsubscribe anytime
Gazzetta's verdict on the same result was blunt: a draw that felt like a defeat (3). That framing is fair. Zakynthos had one point from the season before that game and walked away with a second (9) (17).
Tatsis, and the line he drew himself
The week's most interesting line came from the manager. Tatsis said he leaves only if agreements are not kept, and that Apollon Kalamarias will have fans even if the club plays in Norway (19).
Nothing in the week suggests those agreements are in trouble, and the 1–0 win over Pyrgos was followed by a climb to 7th (6). But a coach who talks about leaving is a coach answering a question someone asked. That question will matter more in November than it does now.
The rest of the division kept moving
Marko beat AEL 1–0 and beat Nestos Chrysoupolis 1–2 away, inside a run that has the leaders winning everything (4) (23) (24). El Arabi scored the winner at Chrysoupolis (5) (23). Karditsa against Zakynthos was postponed (4). PAOK B drew 0–0 with Ellas Syrou (6) (24) (25).
And Zakynthos answered its 1–1 by parting with Periklis Amanatidis within days and appointing Ilias Fyntanis (22). Amanatidis had already said publicly that it was a negative not to be playing at home and that those writing teams off now would be exposed (20). His replacement got the job before Apollon's result against Pyrgos had even settled.
What to watch
Seventh place is a position to defend, not a season. Apollon now has to prove the win over Pyrgos was a standard and not an afternoon, because the pattern of this team so far is fine margins: one penalty won against Pyrgos, one goal conceded in the 85th at Zakynthos (2) (9). Same ninety minutes, two different verdicts.
Watch the attacking numbers rather than the table for now. One goal from open play across two matches means the points have come from set pieces and discipline, not from a forward line that has taken over a game.
