The Double-headed eagle of the North secured a major victory in the Thessaloniki derby to protect their spot in third on the ladder and go within three points of AEK.

PAOK bagged a narrow 1-0 win against Aris at “Toumba” Stadium on Thursday morning in the headline fixture of the Greek Super League’s 16th round.

The Black and White team squandered a perfect chance to go ahead when midfielder Stefan Schwab’s penalty was kept out by Aris captain Julian Cuesta, with the goalkeeper diving to his left and getting a vital touch to knock the ball onto the post (22′).

PAOK eventually went in front on the stroke of half time as a corner delivery was headed by Konstantinos Koulierakis into the path of his centre half partner, Sverrir Ingason, with the Icelander guiding the ball in from close range with a spectacular overhead kick (45+1′).

Panetolikos defeated Atromitos 2-0 at home to go level on points with their opponents and move into seventh.

The Peristeriotes were handed a huge disadvantage when goalkeeper Andreas Gianniotis was sent off with a straight red in the 23rd minute, though they hung on until half time.

The Agrinio side came out of the break firing and immediately scored through an exceptional goal from star striker Nikos Karelis, who volleyed the ball with a deft touch into the top right from a corner delivery for his tenth goal of the campaign (46′).

Left back Diamantis Chouchoumis soon headed the ball in from another corner to guarantee the win (73′).

A first half blitz was enough to see Asteras Tripolis storm to a 3-0 home triumph against Lamia to extend the Fthiotida club’s winless streak to eleven games.

Midfielder Juan Munafo opened the scoring for the hosts after pouncing on a parried save from goalkeeper Athanasios Garavelis to score a tap-in (18′) and their lead soon doubled after Lamia defender Daniel Adejo put the ball into his own net with an attempted clearance (24′).

Winger Crespi then secured the result in the 31st minute when he tapped in teammate Sito’s grounded pass across goal.

Panathinaikos recorded a crucial 0-1 away victory over Levadiakos on Wednesday morning to earn their first three points since the league recommenced.

The “Trifylli” found their winner in the 35th minute when a long ball from centre half Hordur Magnusson reached Andraz Sporar, with the striker cutting it back for winger Benjamin Verbic to finish off.

AEK suffered a shock 2-1 away loss to Giannina to see them fall seven points behind the Greens.

The Epirus club stunned the visitors to go two goals ahead at the break, first through a composed finish from midfielder Daan Rienstra (9′) and second via a header from striker Claudiu Cristian Balan (32′).

Enosi captain Sergio Araujo gave his side a glimmer of hope when he polished off an excellent team movement with an effort into the bottom right corner (50′), but they were unable to overturn the deficit.

Olympiacos sealed a comfortable 0-2 success away against Ionikos to keep level on points with PAOK.

The Piraeus giants broke through in the 34th minute after striker Cedric Bakambu powered the ball into the back of the net before playmaker Kostas Fortounis sealed the win with a phenomenal long-range strike into the top right (40′).

OFI and Volos played out a scoreless draw in Crete, a disappointing result for the Magnesia outfit who have now gone winless in their last four outings.

Greek Super League Ladder

1-Panathinaikos: 42

2-AEK: 35

3-PAOK: 32

4-Olympiacos: 32

5-Volos: 26

6-Aris: 25

7-Panetolikos: 19

8-Atromitos: 19

9-Asteras Tripolis: 17

10-Giannina: 14

11-OFI: 12

12-Levadiakos: 11

13-Lamia: 10

14-Ionikos: 8