Panathinaikos moved to within a point of Olympiakos after a 4-1 win at Ergotelis on Sunday, as Aris climbed to third place with 1-0 win over Thessaloniki rivals PAOK.

Following a depressing week that was marked by their 2-0 home defeat to FC Copenhagen in the Champions League, Panathinaikos lightened the mood with a comfortable win over their Cretan opponents.

Djibril Cisse scored two of the four – one a close range finish, the other a fine strike. Nikos Spyropoulos and Costas Katsouranis scored the first and the fourth for the Greens in similar fashion, with tap-ins from about a metre out.

Mario Budimir pulled one back for Ergotelis after 10 minutes of the second half to make it 3-1 but the home side never looked like getting back into the game.

Sunday night’s most significant result belonged to Aris, who beat PAOK at the Toumba Stadium for the first time in 12 years thanks to a 77th minute goal from Javito who followed up a free kick from Sergio Koke.

The result led to a heroes’ welcome at Aris’ stadium and a lock-in for the PAOK players as their exit from the dressing rooms at Toumba were blocked by irate home fans.

Like Panathinaikos, AEK were also able to banish painful European midweek memories with a 1-0 over Xanthi. The only goal of the game came after just four minutes thanks to a wonder strike from AEK’s Brazilian midfielder Leonardo.

The win leaves AEK mid-table with 7 points.

Panserraikos got their first win and points of the season after beating 10-man Larissa 1-0 at home.

The visitors had Walter Iglesias sent off after 25 minutes when he pushed an opponent to the ground while waiting for a free kick to be taken.

The home side took full advantage and scored just before half time through Maurice Junior Dale.

In Sunday’s other game, Iraklis picked up a point on Corfu after a 0-0 draw with local side Kerkyra. Both sides have eight points and are in joint-fifth place.

Olympiakos Piraeus maintained their lead at the top of the Super League after beating Olympiakos Volos 3-1 at home on Saturday afternoon.

Playing in the unfamiliar colour of blue against the visiting team, which also wears red and white, Olympiakos Piraeus did not take long to open the score.

Vassilis Torosidis pounced in the 8th minute when a header from a corner was stopped on the line and scored the easiest goal of his career.

Torosidis was lucky not to receive his marching orders later in the game when he appeared to grab Vicente Monje around the neck.

The second goal, which came after 21 minutes, was also a calamity for Olympiakos Volos as a shot from Diego Fuster was deflected by Kevin Mirallas and then ricocheted off a defender and the bar before ending up in the net.

Olympiakos Piraeus coach Ernesto Valverde had sprung a surprise by starting with the Belgian youngster Mirallas as his only striker.

The forward rewarded his manager with a good all-round display, which also saw him grab a second goal in injury time.

Earlier, the team from Volos had reduced the deficit after Javier Ubides, who has been a driving force for the newly promoted side, finished off a good move by sliding in at the far post.

In the 83rd minute, Olympiakos’s big summer signing, Albert Riera, also missed a penalty.

The win puts the Reds on 12 points after five games, four ahead of Kavala who beat Panionios 2-1 at home on Saturday.

The opening goal for the home side came in first half stoppage time through Nigerian striker Benjamin Onwuachi, once on the books of Juventus.

Nemanja Vucicevic added a second early in the second half before former Bolton man Ricardo Vaz Te pulled one back for Panionios.

In Saturday’s other game, Atromitos held Asteras Tripolis to a 1-1 draw in the Peloponnese.