After last week’s loss against PAOK, Olympiacos desperately needed a win against AEK if they were going to maintain a safe distance from them in second place.

A defeat would have brought the champions just two points shy of the position that gives access to the Champions League qualifiers, adding extra pressure on the team from Piraeus.

Pedro Martins and his men also wanted the victory for psychological reasons, as they hadn’t won either of their last two important games against PAOK or Dynamo Kiev and they wanted to give themselves and their fans something to celebrate.

Martins chose the same eleven players that started the game against the Ukrainian side last Thursday, yet it seems this choice was not the wisest as his team appeared incapable of functioning on the pitch.

As soon as the game started, it seemed all the pressure began to get to them, as they made one mistake after the next. AEK took advantage of the home side’s inability to create proper play and took the lead through their usual suspect Ezequiel Ponce just after three minutes.

This goal seemed to make matters worse for Olympiacos, with their defenders making several unforced errors, yet the champions weren’t able to create any more dangerous situations in the area of Jose Sa.

Clear evidence of both team’s poor form is the fact that the greatest opportunity in the first half apart from the goal came from a poor return header by Cisse towards his own goalkeeper that Sa was barely able to keep out of his net.

Something needed to change. At half team, Olympiacos president Vangelis Marinakis headed to the locker rooms and gave a pep talk to the players in the hope that this would help improve their game.

Martins made a couple of changes heading into the second half, switching out Vukovic for Torosidis who could create more dangerous situations on the right side (while moving Meriah to the centre of defence) and a tired Gil Dias for Christodoulopoulos.

And just a few minutes after the break, Olympiacos showed they were a different team, as a cross from the right found Podence who attempted a hopeful scissor kick from outside the area that bounced off the bodies in front of him.

The loose ball fell to Kamara who blasted it past Barkas with his left foot and gave his side the equaliser.

About ten minutes later, Lazaros suffered an anterior ligament injury (that will keep him sidelined for the rest of the season, as was announced by the club’s medical team later on.)

Martins turned this into a blessing, introducing Guerrero into the game and adding further pressure to the AEK defence.

His gamble began to bare fruit on the 72nd minute, as Fortounis stole the ball in midfield and put it past Barkas for the second time in the evening.

On the 83rd, Podence controlled the ball wonderfully, leaving two AEK defenders behind him and served it to Ahmed Hassan who had no trouble adding his name to the score sheet.

Three minutes before the 90′, Fortounis grabbed his second of the night, after a long ball forward saw him go past Barkas and slip the ball into the empty net, with the exhilarated fans cheering his name.

This win will help boost morale at the club as they pack their bags and head to Kiev for their return game with Dynamo. Olympiacos will definitely need to score at least once at the “Olimpiyskiy” as the 2-2 result of the first match gives the advantage to the Ukrainian side.

Meanwhile, PAOK extended their winning streak with a 1-5 thrashing of Apollon in Athens. Panathinaikos earned a hard-fought 1-0 win against Asteras at home while Aris and Panionios fought to a 1-1 draw.

PAOK remain at the top of the table with 57 points, while Olympiacos follow in second with 48 and AEK are in third place with 40 points.

From this weekend’s schedule, the derby of Thessaloniki between PAOK and Aris will be the centre of the attention for the Greek League.

DAY 21 RESULTS

Panathinaikos – Asteras Tripolis 1-0 (16′ Altman)
Giannena – Atromitos 0-2 (12′ Koulouris, 50′ Warda)
AEL – Xanthi 1-1 (8′ Nunic – 21′ Almeida)
Levadiakos – Panetolikos 1-0 (54′ pen. Tsambouris)
Aris – Panionios 1-1 (48′ Matilla, 11′ sent off Basha – 56′ Tsiloulis)
Olympiacos – AEK 4-1 (49′ Kamara, 72′, 87′ Fortounis, 83′ Hassan – 3′ Ponce)
Apollon Smyrnis – PAOK 1-5 (64′ D’Urso – 4′ Pelkas, 9′ Oliveira, 33′ Biseswar, 78′ Swiderski, 88′ Henrique)
OFI – Lamia 1-3 (86′ Sakor, 81′ sent off Deligiannidis – 57′ Karamanos, 61′ Tomas, 74′ Bertoglio)

DAY 22 SCHEDULE

Saturday 23 February
Xanthi – Levadiakos
Asteras Tripolis – Atromitos
AEK – Apollon Smyrnis

Sunday 24 February
Panionios – Panathinaikos
Lamia – AEL
PAOK – Aris

Monday 25 February
Olympiacos – OFI
Panetolikos – Giannena