Panathinaikos thrashed Asteras at Tripoli to gain an early advantage in the race for a spot in next season’s Champions League qualifiers, as the Super League play-offs got under way on Wednesday.

The Greens forced Asteras’ first league defeat at home this season, winning 4-0 as it was remarkably efficient in its attacks: it had six shots on goal and scored four times; twice with Nikos Karelis and once through Gordon Schildenfeld and via Marcus Berg.

Later on PAOK escaped with a 1-1 draw from Peristeri, as Atromitos led from the start with a Laurent Agouazi goal, but Facundo Pereyra equalised for PAOK.

The results mean that Panathinaikos is now alone on top of the mini-league with five points, PAOK follows with three, while Asteras and Atromitos have one point each.

In the next round of games PAOK hosts Asteras Tripolis and Panathinaikos entertains Atromitos on Sunday.

Source: Kathimerini