Panathinaikos squandered a great chance to go four points clear at the top of the Super League as they were held to a 1-1 draw at home by 10-man Asteras Tripolis on Sunday.
The Greens needed a second-half goal from Djibril Cisse to rescue a point, which puts them on 29 points after 11 games, just two clear of Olympiakos, who they meet next Sunday.
Asteras had opened the scoring in the 61st minute through Nigerian midfielder Chigozie Udoji but then had Antonis Ladakis sent of moments later for a second yellow card.
Cisse struck back in the 74th for the home side who will be disappointed not to pick up all three points.
PAOK, on the other hand, will be ecstatic with their performance as they beat local rivals Aris 4-1 in what was a baptism of fire for the Yellow’s new coach Hector Raul Cuper.
Vladan Ivic opened the scoring in the 20th minute with a penalty and Zlatan Muslimovic doubled the lead in added time at the end of the first half.
Spanish midfielder Victor Vitolo made it 3-0 with another penalty three minutes after the restart and Muslimovic grabbed a second on the hour mark.
Brazilian right back Neto scored a consolation goal for Aris in the 85th minute.
The win moves PAOK into third place on 21 points while Aris stay fifth on 15.
Also on Sunday, Iraklis came back from two goals down to draw 2-2 with Atromitos in Thessaloniki. Just as he did against Olympiakos two weeks earlier, youngster Apostolos Vellios popped up in injury time to score the equalizer.
Panionios scored two late goals to beat bottom side Panthrakikos 3-1 at home.
Ergotelis host Larissa on December 2 after the game was postponed due to the death of Mexican striker Antonio de Negris.
Olympiakos will go into next weekend’s top-of-the-table clash with Panathinaikos behind the Greens in the Super League table after throwing away a two-goal lead on Saturday to draw 2-2 with PAS Yiannina thanks to two goals from the home side in the last seven minutes of the game.
It had all started well for the Piraeus club with Michal Zewlakow opening the scoring with a powerful header from a free kick.
Costas Mitroglou, fresh from his debut for Greece a week earlier, doubled Olympiakos’s lead in the 80th minute when he finished coolly in a one-on-one situation with the home keeper Dimitris Eleftheropoulos.
At that point, it looked like Zico’s men would put the disappointment of a home draw against Iraklis two weeks ago behind them but again they were caught cold by a late comeback.
PAS struck back in the 83rd minute with a shot from outside the area from Christos Tzanis and in the 90th minute Ibrahima Bakayoko stooped to equalise with a header.
Olympiakos coach Zico will now be looking for nothing less than all three points against Panathinaikos at the Karaiskaki Stadium on Sunday.
Saturday also proved a disappointing day for AEK, who were beaten 2-1 at Kavala.
Sinisa Dobrasinovic opened the scoring for the home side in the 55th penalty after the referee awarded a controversial penalty.
Midfielder Savvas Gentzoglou replied in the 68th minute for the visitors but AEK were not able to hold on and five minutes from time when Apostolos Giannou popped up to grab a second for high-flying Kavala who move up to third on 18 points, the same as PAOK who play on Sunday. AEK are in fifth place on 15 points.
In Saturday’s other game, Xanthi beat Levadiakos 1-0. The only goal of the game was scored by Argentinean Mauro Poy with a close-range finish in the 10th minute.
Levadiakos remain in the drop zone on eight points. Xanthi move up 10th with 13 points.