It appears as though PAOK are determined to win the championship title in Greece this season.
The “black and whites” looked comfortable against Panionios at Toumba last Saturday night, defeating them 3-0. Manager Razvan Lucescu chose to leave key midfielder Dimitrios Pelkas out of the starting lineup, while the team was still trying to recover from losing its main goal scorer, Aleksandar Prijovic.
Or so it was theoretically, as Biseswar put all those rumours to rest with a technical low shot from the right of the area just after 11 minutes. Skipper Adelino Vieirinha also got his name on the score sheet after his magnificent effort from the right left no room for reaction to goalkeeper Kotnik. Shakhov wrote the final score on the 69th, after beating the keeper from inside the area.
This was the second consecutive 3-0 victory in the league for the team from Thessaloniki, as last week they beat Asteras with the same margin. Olympiacos remain eight points behind them, as they walked away from Giannena with a win in a game that was marked by two own goals.
First it was Skondras that sent the ball into his own team’s net after a great effort and cross by Fortounis from the right just after eight minutes. Six minutes later it was Jagos Vukovic that repeated the same error for the third time in the season (he had already done so against PAOK and Xanthi) to make the game level for the home team. Just a few minutes before the half time break, Podence dribbled the ball past two Giannena players and made the cross from the right where Christodoulopoulos was waiting to head the ball home and put his team back in the lead.
Despite the efforts from both teams in the second half, nothing changed and Olympiacos took the three points that will allow them to remain in the title chase. There was a change in the third place however, as AEK have climbed the ladder after their impressive 3-0 win against Asteras at the Olympic Stadium.
The champions opened the game with their foot on the pedal, as they had scored all three goals just after 20 minutes. Ezequiel Ponce, who seems to be in excellent form recently, scored a goal from the penalty spot for the “Enosi”, while Livaja and Alef als added their names on the score sheet.
Meanwhile, it appears as though Atromitos’ run is all but over since they stumbled for a second consecutive week. The team from Peristeri suffered a 2-1 loss at the hands of Xanthi after the home team managed to come back from behind to secure the three points. The visitors had a lot of complaints to the referee as he awarded a penalty to Castro after the Xanthi player tripped over his own foot to collapse on the ground.
Panathinaikos were the victims of a shock defeat against Lamia, since they were never able to find a response to Bertoglio’s goal.
PAOK are currently in first place with 44 points, with Olympiacos following with 36 and AEK in third with 30. For the next round, the “black-and-whites” will host OFI while the team from Pireaus travel to Tripoli to face Asteras and the champions go to Nea Smyrni for their clash with Panionios.