Some smart finishing by Djibril Cisse set Panathinaikos on their way to a 3-0 win at Larissa on Sunday, as Olympiakos kept up the pressure with a 5-1 thumping of Levadiakos.

The Greens remain six points clear of the reigning champions thanks to the win in central Greece.

Cisse got both of his goals in first-half injury time with almost identical, emphatic finishes. The Frenchman is now the Super League’s runway top scorer with 17 goals.

Greece winger Sotiris Ninis added a third in the 82nd minute shortly after coming on as a substitute. The win moved Panathinaikos onto 52 points after 21 games.

Olympiakos are on 46 points after thrashing Levadiakos 5-1 at home in a match played behind closed doors because of the trouble caused by Olympiakos fans at last month’s game at Kavala.

Former Juventus defender Olof Mellberg opened the scoring after 19 minutes and ex-Blackburn Rovers forward Matt Derbyshire grabbed a goal either side of half-time.

Greece international Kostas Mitroglou, who came on in the second-half in Derbyshire’s place, also scored twice in the final 10 minutes of the game.

Former Olympiakos midfielder Yiannis Taralidis had reduced the score to 2-1 just before half-time but his goal proved to be just a consolation for the relegation-threatened visitors.

Olympiakos are now two points clear of PAOK in third place who were pegged back to a 1-1 draw at local rivals Iraklis.

PAOK, still reeling from their thrashing in the cup at the hands of PAS Yiannina, took the lead in the 36th minute through Zlatan Muslimovic. But moments before half-time Fernando Santos’s side was reduced to 10 men after Vitolo picked up a second yellow card.

Iraklis capitalised on the one-man advantage and got the equalizer through Dimitris Yiantsis in the 55th minute. The home side might have won it but Denis Epstein hit the post with seven minutes to go.

The point moves Iraklis two points clear of the relegation zone, where Larissa and Levadiakos are on 21 points and Panthrakikos on nine.

The bottom side completed a famous victory over Aris on Sunday after their match in Thessaloniki was suspended at half-time on Saturday due to heavy rain.

Panthrakikos were winning 1-0 at the time thanks to a goal from Fotis Papoulis. Robert Bertrand scored in the delayed second-half to give the visitors a 2-0 win and only their second three-pointer of the season.

Panionios continued plummeting down the league table after being beaten 1-0 by Atromitos. Luis Eduardo Brito got the only goal and gave the home side the three points which moved them up to sixth place.

Panionios remain on 24 points, perilously close to the drop zone.

Ergotelis helped ease their relegation fears with a thrilling 4-3 victory over visiting Asteras Tripolis.

The home side scored in just the seventh minute through a successful Michalis Fragoulakis penalty. Mario Budimir added a second five minutes later.

But just five minutes after that, Nikos Lazaridis reduced the score to 2-1. Ergotelis took a two-goal lead again just before the half-hour mark through Mario Hiblinger.

Sebastian Carrera then strike twice in eight second-half minutes to make it 3-3. But the action was not over and with 15 minutes left, Ergotelis retook the lead through the Brazilian Beto.

Ismael Blanco returned to form scoring twice on Saturday to help AEK Athens overcome an early deficit and beat visiting northerners Xanthi 3-1.

Leonardo scored AEK’s other goal. Mugurel Buga had given Xanthi the lead.

The victory moved AEK to fourth place with 33 points after 21 games, 16 behind leader Panathinaikos, which visits Larissa Sunday, and ten behind Olympiakos and PAOK.

A defensive error allowed Buga to gain the ball in AEK’s area, dribble past goalkeeper Sebastian Saja and score from a very tight angle in the 9th minute.

In the 17th, Blanco was brought down in Xanthi’s area by goalkeeper Michael Gspurning and converted the penalty shot.

Leonardo gave AEK the lead in first half injury time with a header from close range off a cross by Rafik Djebbour.

The start of the second half was delayed as a downpour threatened to disrupt the match.

But when the match resumed, the sole highlight of the second 45 minutes was another AEK goal. Blanco scored his second goal, and AEK’s third, in the 78th, following a swift AEK counterattack.

The only other match saw Kavala win by the most slender of margins thanks to an own goal, defeating PAS Ioannina 1-0.

Kavala are six points behind in seventh after getting back to winning ways against relegation-threatened Ioannina, who saw Ilias Kotsios put through his own net in the 22nd minute.