The midweek drop-out from the final “16” of the Europa League at the hands of Dynamo Kiev didn’t leave the Olympiacos players feeling down on their luck for too long.

Pedro Martins’ men had an easy afternoon against a disappointing OFI side last Monday at the Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium, putting five goals past helpless goalkeeper Strezos.

Giorgos Masouras scored his first for his new club after just 15 minutes of play, while skipper Kostas Fortounis added another to his tally this season, climbing to ten goals in the Super League.

Egyptian forward Ahmed Hassan added a hat-trick to end the Cretan team’s misery, while all they could do was pull one back on the 57th minute through Adil Nabi.

This win allowed the red-and-whites to reduce the margin with PAOK still in the lead to seven, after the team from Thessaloniki ended their respective game level 1-1 against their local rivals Aris.

Both teams held firmly to their defensive lines without many chances created in front of either goal. But Razvan Lucescu’s team managed to claim the lead after a great strike from outside the area by left-back Adelino Vieirinha, whose goals have proven crucial this season.

Yet the two teams remained tight and it wasn’t until the 85th minute when the visitors managed to break down the opposition’s defence, after a free kick from outside the area found the head of Fran Velez, who smashed it into the back of Paschalakis’ net.

Champions AEK had more trouble than they could’ve bargained for against a tough Apollon side, yet were eventually able to claim a narrow 2-1 victory.

Lucas Boye put his team in front before the two sides could even settle on the pitch (4′), yet the light brigade began to push back and look for an equaliser.

Their efforts bore fruit in the 24th minute when El-Helwe calmly finished a marvellous team effort, leaving the Olympic Stadium of Athens in shock.

But what Boye had done in the first half, he repeated in the second, giving his team the winning goal from a great solo attempt.

Meanwhile, Panathinaikos seem to be falling even further behind, with Panionios completely overwhelming them at Nea Smyrni.

One goal from Spiridonovic in the first half and another from Stavropoulos in the second were enough to give the “panthers” the three points, as Giorgos Donis and his team full on young hopefuls continue to look for a solution to their problems.

And they will need to solve them quickly, as this weekend they will be hosting table-leaders PAOK at the Olympic Stadium, while AEK travel to Thessaloniki for their tussle with Aris.

At the same time, Olympiacos will be looking forward to yet another comfortable voyage as they return to their former home ground, Rizoupoli, to face bottom-of-the-table Apollon.

Currently PAOK are at first place in the Greek Super League with 58 points, while Olympiacos have 51 and AEK are in third with 43. Atromitos hold firmly to fourth place with 40 points as Aris are at fifth place with 34.

At the battle to avoid relegation, Asteras and AEL are both at eleventh place with 22 point each, while Giannena are 13th with 20.

Levadiakos are in the danger zone with 19 points, as are OFI and Apollon, who each have 17 and nine points respectively.

ROUND 22 RESULTS
Asteras Tripolis – Atromitos 1-1 (24′ Kaltsas – 82′ Warda)
AEK – Apollon Smyrnis 2-1 (4′, 47′ Boye – 24′ El-Helwe)
Panionios – Panathinaikos 2-0 (11′ Spiridonovic, 56′ Stavropoulos)
Xanthi – Levadiakos 0-1 (90’+3′ Ioannidis)
Lamia – AEL 2-1 (20′ pen. Piti, 56′ Bertoglio – 10′ Bertos)
Olympiacos – OFI 5-1 (15′ Masouras, 36′, 46′, 60′ Ahmed, 40′ Fortounis – 57′ Nabi)
PAOK- Aris 1-1 (39′ Vieirinha – 85′ Velez)
Panetolikos – Giannena 1-0 (79′ Arghus)

ROUND 23 FIXTURES
Saturday 2 March
Aris – AEK
Giannena – Xanthi
Sunday 3 March
OFI – AEL
Atromitos – Panionios
Levadiakos – Lamia
Panathinaikos – PAOK
Asteras Tripolis – Panetolikos
Monday 4 March
Apollon Smyrnis – Olympiacos