Neither AEK nor Olympiacos were unable to get on top of the other, each settling for a hard-fought point in an evenly matched clash.
Enosi and the Piraeus giants played out a 1-1 draw at “Agia Sophia” Stadium on Monday morning (AEST) in the Greek Super League’s fourth round, marking the first points dropped of the season for the “red-whites”.
AEK opened the scoring in the 22nd minute after right back Lazaros Rota delivered a phenomenal pass across the box to striker Ezequiel Ponce, who then tapped it in for an easy goal, his first for the club since returning.
Olympiacos managed to equalise soon after through forward Ayoub El Kaabi, who executed a composed diving header off a cross from winger Daniel Podence into the left side of the net (38′).
The reigning champions thought they had restored their lead in the 59th minute after captain Sergio Araujo deposited the ball into the bottom right, but VAR overruled it due to a handball in the build-up to the goal.
Both sides failed to grab a winner and were resigned to share the points, allowing Olympiacos to retain their place in first.
There is no rest time for AEK as they now set their sights on two huge upcoming fixtures against Brighton in the Europa League and Panathinaikos in the league next weekend.
Atromitos got their first point of the season after drawing 1-1 against Volos at home on Tuesday morning.
The Peristeriotes took the lead in the 36th minute when Gaetan Robail delivered a cross that was guided in by striker Karol Angielski, with VAR overruling the original offside call to award them the goal.
Volos brought it back, thanks to an own goal by centre back Lucas Acevedo after he accidentally headed the ball into his own net (46’), with this proving to be the last decisive moment of the game.
PAOK and Aris were unable to get past the other’s defence in the Thessaloniki derby, leaving the scoreline untouched in a tense 0-0 result at “Toumba” Stadium.
Aris will likely be the happier of the two teams following the match, though both will no doubt have regrets in not bagging the win and holding bragging rights over the other.
Kifisia fought their way to a 4-4 draw against Panserraikos at home in an absolute thriller, coming from three goals down to eventually scrape away with a point.
The Serres club soared into a three-nil lead within the first 22 minutes after goals from Panagiotis Deligiannidis (4′), Paschalis Staikos (12′) and Emil Bergstrom (22′).
The complexion of the game changed dramatically for Panserraikos, however, when centre half Tomas Hajek was given a straight red by VAR for a last-man tackle (44′).
The hosts managed to get two goals back through Georgios Konstantakopoulos (56′) and Ognjen Ozegovic (72′), but the visitors again found the back of the net via winger Kostas Pileas (77′).
Panserraikos looked destined to win as the contest went deep into injury time when Kifisia found two late efforts from Andrews Tetteh (90+6′) and Alberto Botia (90+12′) to pull off a miraculous comeback.
Asteras Tripolis came from behind twice to record a 2-2 home draw against Giannina on Sunday evening.
It was a high-action first half with all four goals coming in the opening period, the first of which seeing the Epirus side go in front through winger Panagiotis Tzimas in the 16th minute.
The Arcadians equalised shortly after with a low-driven free kick strike from left back Federico Alvarez before the Epirus side regained their advantage, thanks to striker Claudiu Cristian Balan (28′).
The home team made it level once more with a corner header from forward Crespi (45+3′) in what proved the final decisive moment of their encounter.
Panathinaikos dominated Panetolikos in a 0-5 away thrashing on Sunday morning, led chiefly by hat-trick hero Bernard.
The Brazilian playmaker opened his league account with a simple finish in the 13th minute before getting his second on the verge of half time (45+1′).
Bernard then capped off his stellar display with a free kick effort he kept low, driving it into the bottom left (64′).
The Greens did not stop there as winger Aitor Cantalapiedra converted his penalty attempt into the bottom right for his first goal since returning from his devastating ACL injury (86′).
Centre half Hordur Magnusson added one final goal for the “Trifylli” through a corner header (90+3′), with this result giving them a huge morale boost ahead of their next two major games against Villareal in Europe and heavyweights AEK in the league.
Lamia earned a 2-2 draw with OFI at “Athanasios Diakos” ground as each club preserved what have been relatively strong starts to their campaigns.
The Cretans went ahead with an effort from striker Nouha Dicko (26′), though the Fthiotida outfit responded in kind through their own striker, Sotiris Tsiloulis (47′).
OFI again pulled in front, this time through midfielder Felipe Gallegos, but Lamia again pressed for an equaliser which they found in the form of an own goal from defender Andreas Karo during a corner (74′).
Atromitos hosts Volos on Tuesday morning in the final fixture of this round and both teams desperately need a victory to get their respective seasons up and running.
Greek Super League Ladder (games in hand)
1-Olympiacos: 10
2-Panathinaikos: 9 (3)
3-OFI: 7
4-PAOK: 7
5-PAS Giannina: 5
6-AEK: 5 (3)
7-Lamia: 5
8-Aris: 4
9-Kifisia: 4
10-Asteras Tripolis: 4
11-Panserraikos: 3
12-Panetolikos: 2 (3)
13-Volos: 1 (3)
14-Atromitos: 0 (2)
