Dirty TacklePanathinaikos manager hit square in the face with a soft drink thrown by Olympiacos fans
The Derby of Eternal Enemies lived up to its name as Sunday's match between Olympiacos and Panathinaikos featured a number of scary incidents. One of which involved Panathinaikos manager Yiannis Anastasiou drinking a Coke in the most surprising and painful way possible. But before the animosity between the two sides boiled over, the most frightening moment of all occurred in the 30th minute when 21-year-old Olympiacos striker Michael Olaitan collapsed on the pitch without any physical contact.
Olaitan was taken off on a stretcher and brought to a hospital. Thankfully, initial reports were that he was in stable condition and his collapse was caused by "viral myocarditis caused by an infection."
Visiting Panathinaikos opened the scoring just before halftime and as the game wore on and they scored more goals, the home supporters grew restless. Coming off a midweek triumph against Manchester United in the Champions League, the Olympiacos supporters quickly forgot their joy from a few days earlier. The flares that lit up the stands were thrown onto the pitch and one of them hitting Panathinaikos goal scorer Marcus Berg.
Then, the riot police came out when an Olympiacos fan threw a Coke cup full carbonated syrup and ice that hit Anastasiou right in the mouth.
Panathinaikos won 3-0 and after the match, Anastasiou said, "I feel a little dizzy, but I'm otherwise fine." He will probably drink Pepsi from now on.
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