PAOK pushes Aris to third place in the Super League

PAOK claim second place on the ladder Photo: Eurokinissi via Antonis Nikolopoulos

7 May 2021 11:34am

PAOK’s Greek Super League finals dream is inching closer after beating AEK on Wednesday. Aris on the other hand fumbled the ball when playing against Olympiacos, making way for their fellow Thessalonians to jump ahead.

It was all about the penalties at Olympic Stadium, but it took a while for AEK and PAOK to warm up. It was a goalless first half, but the Thessalonian guests took the game by stronghold in the second scoring two goals within five minutes.

PAOK’s loaned forward Michael Krmenčík came in first at 47 minutes for the 1-0 lead and just two minutes later, fellow teammate Stefan Schwab scored a penalty bringing the team to 2-0.

AEK forward Muamer Tankovic was only able to soften the blow for the hosts, also scoring a penalty two minutes into overtime, leaving the final score at 2-1.

Up north in Thessaloniki, Aris could only manage a 1-1 draw with top team Olympiacos, despite taking an early lead.
11 minutes in, Aris forward Dimitris Manos scored.

The former Olympiacos fixture’s goal seemed to keep Aris on a high, but late in the second half the Thessalonians’ chance at second place on the ladder were made slim.

Midfielder Kostas Fortounis came through in the 82nd minute bringing the Reds to an equalised score of 1-1. Unfortunately for Aris, a missed penalty kick by midfielder Bruno Gama in the 90th minute meant the team was bumped down to third.

Despite failing to beat Asteras Tripolis, Panathinaikos was still able to close the gap slightly between itself and fourth placed AEK after a 2-2 draw in Athens.

The teams played a ‘tug of war’ in the first half, starting off with Asteras defender Dani Suárez scoring the first goal of the match in the 11th minute. Green’s midfielder Anastasios Chatzigiovannis came in at 28 minutes equalising the score.

Forward Jerónimo Barrales converted a controversial penalty into a lead for Asteras but Chatzigiovannis came back in the second half, equalising the score 2-2 at 53 minutes.

There are three rounds of playoffs remaining, with Olympiacos taking the lead with 83 points, followed by PAOK on 61, Aris two behind on 59, AEK with 55, Panathinaikos on 52 and sitting in at the bottom of the top teams is Asteras with 46.