PAOK adds to Panathinaikos agony with late comeback win

Panathinaikos’ horrible form continues to plague the club after PAOK delivered a late surge to overcome them, denting their league hopes.

The Thessalonians earned a come-from-behind 2-1 victory on Monday morning (AEDT) in the Hellenic Championship’s 22nd round to hand the Greens their third consecutive loss, leaving them in sixth and only one point ahead of Aris and OFI.

Panathinaikos winger Sebastian Palacios shocked the hosts with a goal in the sixth minute after some smart free-kick play. Centre back Sverrir Ingason managed to equalise for the home side (77’) before fellow defender Joan Sastre found a late winner from a long shot which deflected off the underside of the crossbar and bounced just inside of the goal line (88’).

League leaders Olympiacos navigated Ionikos with ease, recording a 0-3 away result. The Piraeus club got their first of the game after a brilliant shot from range by midfielder Aguibou Camara (24’). Striker Tiquinho Soares successfully converted his penalty to make it 0-2 (56’) before winger Giorgos Masouras added the third and final goal with his effort two minutes later.

READ MORE: Horror form continues to plague AEK and Panathinaikos

AEK put their season back on track with a comfortable 3-0 home win in their match with Apollon Smyrnis. The Yellow and Black outfit got their first in the 52nd minute thanks to a smart finish by striker Sergio Araujo before winger Steven Zuber doubled their lead after going around the keeper (67’). Araujo guaranteed the result with his second (71’), taking his league goal tally to ten.

Giannina have leaped into fourth after bagging a crucial 0-1 away success over Panetolikos, thanks to a tap-in from winger Jan-Marc Schneider (63’) following Nikolaos Melissas save.

Volos caused another upset on Sunday morning, this time defeating Aris 0-2 in Thessaloniki, to put themselves firmly in the mix for a top-six finish. The Magnesia side pulled off some late magic as substitutes Alex Soares (80’) and Jorge Correa (86’) each scored to give their team a vital three points.

Two matches were postponed due to COVID-19 cases among the playing squads: Lamia-Asteras Tripolis and Atromitos-OFI.