Olympiacos overturned an early 5-1 deficit to defeat Panathinaikos 15-12 at the Papastrateio on Friday, maintaining their perfect start to the Greek Men’s Water Polo League.

Loren Fatovic scored four goals and goalkeeper Panagiotis Tzortzatos played a crucial role as the defending champions secured a seventh consecutive league victory. The result also extended Olympiacos’ winning run against their rivals to 64 matches across all competitions.

Panathinaikos made an outstanding start in Piraeus, taking advantage of their early opportunities to establish a four-goal lead. The visitors put Olympiacos under immediate pressure, forcing coach Elvis Fatovic to call a timeout as the hosts struggled to settle.

The response came before the first interval. Olympiacos scored three unanswered goals to reduce the deficit to 5-4, with Konstantinos Genidounias, Fatovic and Alexandros Papanastasiou helping bring the home side back into contention.

That recovery continued in the second quarter. Olympiacos won the period 5-2, turning their narrow deficit into a 9-7 half-time advantage. Having conceded five times during the opening stages, the hosts had regained control through a much stronger defensive spell and more effective finishing.

Panathinaikos remained close after the break. Stathis Kalogeropoulos helped keep the visitors within reach, but Olympiacos protected their lead and briefly moved three goals clear before Nikos Kopeliadis reduced the gap to 12-10 heading into the final quarter.

The contest remained undecided deep into the fourth period. Kostas Gkiouvetsis converted two penalties as Panathinaikos twice moved within one goal, the second bringing the score to 13-12 with 3:41 remaining.

Olympiacos delivered the decisive response. Daniel Angyal restored a two-goal cushion before Nikos Gkillas scored the final goal, while Tzortzatos and the home defence prevented Panathinaikos from finding another route back.

Kalogeropoulos and Gkiouvetsis finished with three goals each for the visitors, whose strong opening ultimately went unrewarded.

Olympiacos now have 21 points from seven league matches. Attention turns to the Champions League next week, with Sabadell visiting Piraeus on Tuesday. Panathinaikos host Steaua Bucharest the following day.

Result: Olympiacos 15-12 Panathinaikos
Quarter scores: 4-5, 5-2, 3-3, 3-2
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