Masoud Shojaei

Larissa upset AEK in the first leg of the Greek Cup semifinal and is looking good to meet the other semi's hot favorite PAOK in the final, given the Thessaloniki club's triumph at Panionios.

Larissa left it late but managed to find the winning goal and beat AEK 2-1 at home on Thursday, as well as beating disappointment from AEK's goal that should not have counted.

Iranian international left-back Ehsan Haji Safi has reached an agreement with Greek giant Olympiakos, Tasnim news agency reported on Wednesday.

The 27-year-old soccer player is the team's first transfer in the January window.

Haji Safi signed a two-year contract with Greek Super League side Panionios in June 2017 and teamed up with his fellow Masoud Shojaei.

GYMNASTICS: Olympian Lefteris Petrounias made it six out of six this year in the rings winning at the Challenge Cup in Paris with what he claimed was a performance equal to what gave him the gold medal at the  Rio de Janeiro Olympics last year. He has remained unbeaten since and is the favorite for gold in the upcoming World Championship.

Olympiakos and Panionios lost their perfect record after three games in the Super League, and were joined at the top of the table by AEK, while Panathinaikos is going from bad to worse.

Iran's semi-official Fars news agency reportedly said Friday that the country's soccer federation has issued a condemnation of two Iranian players belonging to Greek club Panionios for taking part in a match against Israel's Maccabi Tel Aviv in a Europa League match on Thursday.

Panionios triumphed 3-2 at Gorica on Thursday to go through to the third qualifying round of the Europa League with a 5-2 aggregate score.

The Nea Smyrni team traveled to Slovenia armed with the 2-0 home win from the first leg, and scored three times in the first half from four chances it got against a wobbly defense.

PAOK has stretched its lead at the top of the Super League's play-offs mini-table beating Panionios 1-0, while ΑΕΚ kept its hopes for a Champions League spot alive downing demoralized Panathinaikos 1-0 on Sunday.

Olympiakos won the top-of-the-table clash with second-placed Xanthi on Sunday to stretch its lead at the Super League table to 12 points, while AEK and PAOK are in trouble after fresh losses. Panionios has now joined Xanthi in second.