Olympiacos defeated PAOK 0-1 at Toumba, with Dimitris Giannoulis’ own goal making the difference between the two teams.

Fans of the home side created a blazing atmosphere at the stadium hours before kick-off, with the appearance of the two sides on the pitch only spurring them on even further.

The home side had few surprises in their starting lineup, with Josip Misic and Mauricio having a more organising role in midfield and Dimitris Pelkas, Dimitris Limnios and Diego Biseswar order to support lone striker Karl Swiderski up front.

At the other end, Pedro Martins provided a small surprise for his opponents but also for fans of his own team, as he introduced Lazar Randjelovic on the right side of midfield.

The Serbian had been sidelined for quite a long time and wasn’t even included in the squad that faced Arsenal midweek. Yet it was his presence that proved to be the catalyst for the final result.

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The game started with PAOK at the driver’s seat spurred on by the fans as they attempted to shock their opponents with an early goal. It all came to nothing though, as they couldn’t effectively bring the ball into the heart of defence.

Eventually, the visitors were able to gain control of possession and take a breath, slowing down the game’s rhythm into something a little more suitable for them.

They had only just come from a difficult effort against a Premiers League side and it was unlikely that they’d be able to continue running at that pace without running out of breath.

PAOK attempted to find avenues towards goalkeeper Jose Sa’s goal, but the work in midfield by the triple threat of Guillherme, Mady Camara and Andreas Bouchalakis was giving them no chance.

On the one occasion that Misic was able to find himself with space, Ruben Semedo was there to clean up the mess. After finding their footing in defence, it was time for the visiting side to break forward.

And they did so at the closing minutes of the first half, with Mathieu Valbuena making one of his trademark pinpoint crosses towards the feet of Youssef El Arabi who was able to get a foot on the ball from inside the area but the ball bounced off the post.

A few seconds later, Kostas Tsimikas broke free from the left to take a shot, but it went wide. The half time whistle found the two teams level, but it wasn’t meant to last as the second half started in the exact same way: with Olympiacos keeping their foot on the gas.

And during another of their chances, Tsimikas again carried the ball down the left flank, passing anyone who dared get in his way to make a powerful shot towards goal.

Goalkeeper Alexandros Paschalakis managed to block the shot and just as everyone thought it was going out for a corner kick, along came Randjelovic to flick it back in, with the ball bouncing off Giannoulis and ending up in his own net.

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After their goal however, Olympiacos seemed to suffer a mini black-out, allowing the home side to create several scoring opportunities in a short period of time.

During one of them, they managed to find the equaliser, after a free kick that found the feet of Fernando Varela, with Sa making a save but the ball ending up in the back of his net.

But after taking the advice of the VAR, the German referee (correctly) cancelled the goal. Not much else came after that, with the visitors going back to full defence mode and the home side unable to create much of anything, in a game that ended as a triumph for Olympiacos.

Now they go five points clear of the champions with only one round to go until the start of the playoffs in the Greek Super League.

GREEK SUPER LEAGUE ROUND 25 RESULTS
Asteras Tripolis-Panathinaikos 1-1 (85′ Jauregi – 51′ pen. Macheda, 65′ s.o. Zahid)
Lamia-Aris 2-2 (24′, 48′ Aravidis – 52′ Larsson, 54′ Ideye)
Panetolikos-Panionios 1-0 (53′ Rosa – 90+8′ s.o. Korbos)
Volos-AEL 0-0 (51′ s.o. Markovic)
Atromitos-Xanthi 1-0 (29′ Androutsos)
AEK-OFI 3-0 (5′ Mantalos, 8′, 29′ Verde, 90+1′ s.o. Livaja)
PAOK-Olympiacos 0-1 (49 og. Giannoulis)