Scottish referee Bobby Madden has been given a robust defence after his performance in the Athens derby.
The Premiership whistler took charge as Panathinaikos defeated Olympiakos 2-1 in a fiery encounter, with the visitors reduced to 10 men when Ousseynou Ba was dismissed.
The centre-back was shown a second yellow card for manhandling Madden, but Olympiakos were fuming over the referee's performance.
The Scottish official was hand-picked by former English Premier League whistler Mark Clattenburg, who heads up the referee department for the Greek FA.
Madden was criticised in the Greek media for his performance, but he was praised by former top ref and Athens Referee Association chief Panagiotis Varouchas.
He insisted: "We had an amazing referee for for the Derby.
"He didn't whistle unless he had to and when he needed to, he was strict.
"There were two claims for penalties which we have looked at again and are satisfied Madden called them both correctly.
"He was also right about handing a second yellow card to Ba because he fouled Carlitos.
"It was refreshing to get a foreign referee to take charge of the game and we are very satisfied with his performance."
Madden's last Premiership match was Hamilton's 1-1 draw with Rangers.
