A disastrous opening round of games for Greece’s big three clubs was confirmed on Sunday when AEK slumped to a 2-1 defeat to newly-promoted Kerkyra.

Having seen Panathinaikos held by Xanthi on Friday and Olympiakos lose to Iraklis on Saturday, AEK must have fancied their chances of opening up a gap on their rivals after just one match.

However, Babis Tennes’s well-organized side had different ideas.

They opened the scoring in the 17th minute thanks to an unstoppable long-range effort from striker Thanassis Tsigas.

In the 54th minute, Denis Epstein, on loan from Olympiakos, raced into the box and the German left-winger slotted a cool finish past Sebastian Saja.

AEK reduced the deficit 10 minutes later when Raffik Djebbour scored straight from a free-kick. But the same player was guilty of missing a great opportunity moments later when he also had substitute Ismael Blanco unmarked in the box.

Kerkyra held on comfortably in the closing stages to notch up a famous opening day win.

The day’s most exciting game was at Toumba Stadium, where PAOK beat Panserraikos 3-2 despite being behind and then having their lead pegged back.

The visitors went in front in the 20th minute when Serbian winger Nikola Beljic weaved his way past four PAOK defenders in the box and unleashed an unstoppable shot.

Determined not to be outdone, Adelino Vierinha showed some superb skill of his own to control the ball on the edge of the area and strike a low drive into the net just on the stroke of half-time.

PAOK took the lead just after the restart, when a free-kick eventually found defender Bruno Cirillo unmarked and he planted a close-range header in the net before running to the PAOK fans to celebrate.

But the visitors were not done yet – Beljic showed that his first goal was no fluke as he dispatched a searing drive on 55 minutes to make it 2-2.

On as a second half substitute, young striker Thanassis Papazoglou won the game for PAOK on 70 minutes when the ball was squared back to him on the penalty spot and he side-footed a bobbling shot into the unguarded part of the goal.

Thessaloniki rival Aris were in action at Kavala, where they managed to secure a 1-0 win.

Oriol scored the goal after just 27 minutes and, fresh from their Europa League success, Hector Cuper’s men never looked like losing the lead.

On Crete, Ergotelis got caught cold by Asteras Tripolis and never recovered. Midfielder Antonis Ladakis scored in the fifth minute to set the visitors on their way to victory.

Saturday

Ernesto Valverde’s second spell in charge of Olympiakos got off to the worst possible start as the Reds slumped to a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Iraklis on Saturday.

The cash-strapped Thessaloniki side came from behind to beat the Reds 2-1 at the Kaftantzoglio Stadium in a pulsating game.

It is the first time that Olympiakos have lost their opening game of the season since 1987 and the result was an even greater shock given that Iraklis had to let go some of their players due to debt problems this summer while new manager Marinos Ouzounidis has only had a few days to work with his squad.

Olympiakos had taken the lead through a lovely curling shot from Kostas Mitroglou on the hour-mark.

It looked like Ernesto Valverde’s men would go on to grab a second and kill off the game  when Iraklis manager Ouzounidis pulled off a masterstroke in the closing stages of the game as he threw on French-Algerian winger Karim Soltani and forward Apostolos Vellios with Iraklis down and both players played a part in turning the game.

With 10 minutes left, the bright Soltani raced into the box and was clearly brought down by Nikopolidis. Bogdan Mara tucked away the penalty coolly.

In the 87th minute, Soltani was involved in the build up to a goal again as he dispossessed Francois Modesto and showed a rapid turn of pace before setting up Vellios for the winning goal.

Olympiakos Volos, on the other hand, made the perfect start to their Super League presence winning 1-0 away at Panionios.

The start of this game was delayed before Slovakian international and former Panionios winger Mario Breska scored the only goal of the game in the 59th minute for the visitors in their first top-flight game for 21 years.

Another new arrival in the Super League, Frenchman Daniel Cousin, scored the only goal in Larissa’s 1-0 home win over Atromitos.

Friday

Former Wigan striker Nathan Ellington spoiled Panathinaikos’s Super League debut on Friday by scoring the goal that secured a 1-1 draw for visiting Xanthi.

The reigning champion’s preparation for the game had been anything but ideal – losing last season’s Super League top scored Djibril Cisse to injury and then having to switch the tie to the Apostolos Nikolaidis Stadium because of pitch problems at the Olympic Stadium.

However, it was the Greens that started the brighter of the two teams and Antonis Petropoulos, starting in Cisse’s place, who gave them the lead in the 10th minute when he headed in a Sebastian Leto free-kick.

Panathinaikos pressed for a second and summer signing Sidney Govou was guilty of a couple of glaring misses as the game remained at 1-0.

That changed just six minutes into the second-half when Ellington, nicknamed “The Duke”, controlled the ball with his head and then volleyed in from close range as two Panathinaikos defenders were unable to get to grips with.

Xanthi survived a few nervy moments towards the end to come away with an unexpected point.