AEK emerged comfortable victors in the Double-headed eagle derby, capitalising on PAOK’s early send-off which set the tone of a terrible game the Thessaloniki side will desperately want to forget.

Enosi defeated the “black-whites” 4-0 at “Agia Sophia” Stadium on Thursday morning in the sixth round of the Greek Super League play-offs, with the victory keeping them level on points with title rivals Panathinaikos.

PAOK suffered a devastating blow in the 10th minute when centre half Giannis Kargas was handed a red card following a VAR check, and things only become worse as the match went on.

AEK pounced on the extra man advantage, going ahead through forward and captain Steven Zuber’s strong finish into the bottom right (21′) before doubling their lead minutes later, thanks to a close-range volley by defender Harold Moukoudi from a corner set piece (24′).

Forward Levi Garcia made it three with an excellent shot from just outside the edge of the box, striking it sweetly into the top left corner (77′), and substitute Paolo Fernandez followed it up soon after with a long-range effort that took a slight deflection into the bottom left (86′).

Panathinaikos downed Volos 0-2 away to preserve their place up top, maintaining their strong form ahead of an epic top-of-the-table encounter with AEK next round.

The two teams played out a tough first half with neither able to penetrate the other’s defences.

The “Trifylli” then scored immediately from the restart, with right back Giannis Kotsiras delivering a wonderful over-the-top ball to teammate Daniel Mancini, who then sent it across goal for striker Fotis Ioannidis to tap home (46′).

Mancini played an instrumental role again as the Greens doubled their advantage in the 65th minute, with the Argentinean crossing the ball in for forward Andraz Sporar, who headed it between goalkeeper Matic Kotnik’s legs.

This takes Panathinaikos to their fourth straight win, keeping them in a good place confidence-wise as they

Aris secured a major 2-1 success over Olympiacos at “Kleanthis Vikelidis” to all but guarantee themselves of the final European qualifying spot available.

The hosts opened the scoring with an unbelievable goal direct from a corner by winger Luis Palma, who swung the ball in from the left side over goalkeeper Alexandros Paschalakis into the net (36′).

The “yellow-blacks” made it two in the second half after midfielder Bryan Dabo pounced on defender Ousseynou Ba’s failed clearance at the back, with the ball falling into his path for him to tap in with ease (65′).

The Piraeus side got one back through striker Cedric Bakambu’s successful penalty into the bottom left (70′), but they were unable to get back on level terms.

The result takes Aris seven points clear of Volos, giving them a healthy lead in the race for fifth.

Greek Super League Ladder

Championship Group

1-Panathinaikos: 75

2-AEK: 75

3-Olympiacos: 63

4-PAOK: 60

5-Aris: 47

6-Volos: 40