The two teams at the top of the Greek Super League ladder claimed important victories over the weekend.
PAOK proved that they can survive even without their top striker Aleksandar Prijovic, who transferred to the Saudi Arabian club, Al-Ittihad. The absence of the Serbian player did not stop the team from walking away from Tripoli with a comfortable 0-3 win against Asteras.
The victory would not have come had it not been for the excellent performance of goalkeeper Alexandros Paschalakis, as he made some excellent saves, keeping a clean sheet.
The opener came by a free kick from skipper Adelino Vieirinha, Mauricio capitalised on a great pass by Biseswar to score the second, while Triantafyllopoulos headed the ball into his own net late in injury time to seal the final score.
The away team were reduced to ten men on the 79th after Leo Matos received his marching orders, yet this didn’t seem to work in favour of Asteras.
Meanwhile in Livadia, Olympiacos had an easy afternoon despite once again missing out on many opportunities.
Kostas Fortounis gave the team from Pireaus an early advantage, sending home a low cross from Angel Guerrero just after seven minutes of play.
The “red-and-whites” scored again on the 50th, this time Guerrero being the scorer. On the 68th, Masouras made his debut at his new club, coming on for Christodoulopoulos.
In other games for round 16 of the Greek League, AEK were back on form as they dominated PAS Giannena at the “Zosimades”. Ezequiel Ponce scored a quick double for the champions, with Mantalos and Michail (own goal) providing the other two.
In a thriller match that was played at the Olympic Stadium of Athens, Panathinaikos and Xanthi drew level at 2-2. The “greens” came from behind to turn the game around, performing great football at times, however a final minute error by Mavromatis allowed the visitors to score from a penalty kick and walk away with a point.
Atromitos fell even further behind from the top two, as they failed to defeat Panetolikos on home turf (2-2). At the top of the ladder, PAOK continues to lead with 41 points, followed by Olympiacos with 33 and Atromitos with 29.
For round 17, Razvan Lucescu’s men will welcome Panionios, with Olympiacos travelling to Giannena and Atromitos going to Xanthi.

GREEK SUPER LEAGUE ROUND 16 RESULTS
AEL – Apollon Smyrnis 3-0 (5′ OG Gino, 63′, 77′ Nunic – 50′ sent off Stathis)
Atromitos – Panetolikos 2-2 (50′ N’Sikulu, 83′ Mujakic – 69′, 77′ Mana)
OFI – Panionios 1-1 (27′ Platellas – 80′ Camara)
Levadiakos – Olympiacos 0-2 (7′ Fortounis, 50′ Guerrero)
Panathinaikos – Xanthi 2-2 (48′ Mpouzoukis, 68′ Kolovetsios – 19′, 90’+6′ pen. Castro)
Asteras Tripolis – PAOK 0-3 (65′ Vieirinha, 69′ Mauricio, 90’+2′ OG Triantafyllopoulos, 79′ sent off Matos)
Aris – Lamia 1-0 (90’+2′ Matilla)
PAS Giannena – AEK 0-4 (5′ pen. Mantalos, 21′ OG Michail, 45′, 45’+2′ Ponce)

ROUND 17 FIXTURES
Saturday 19/1
PAS Giannena – Olympiacos
Apollon Smyrni- Levadiakos
PAOK – Panionios
Sunday 20/1
OFI – Panetolikos
AEL – Aris
Xanthi – Atromitos
AEK- Asteras Tripolis
Monday 21/1
Lamia – Panathinaikos