And the Oscar goes to… Asteras Tripolis

On the day of one of the most forgettable Derbies of the Eternal Rivals between Olympiakos and Panathinaikos that ended in a draw, Asteras Tripolis stole the show in the Super League beating PAOK in what was arguably the season’s best match.

AEK beat Panionios 1-0 on Sunday through a Marko Livaja goal and is on 54 points with six games left to play, the next one being at PAOK.

The Thessaloniki club lost 3-2 at Tripoli and is on 52 but will likely drop to 49 once the league’s disciplinary committee issues its ruling on the match against Olympiakos that was called off last weekend.

In an action-packed match at the Theodoros Kolokotronis ground, Asteras led via Giorgos Kyriakopoulos, but Djalma Campos equalized before half-time. Martin Tonso restored Asteras’s lead early in the second half, and it was not until the seventh minute of injury time that PAOK managed to make it 2-2 from the spot with Aleksandar Prijovic, the league’s top scorer with 14 goals.

With one more minute left to play in time added on, PAOK pushed forward to find a winner, but Asteras got out on the break and scored its third goal via Matias Iglesias.

Olympiakos was unable to beat the depleted but ever more confident Panathinaikos, even though the Greens played the last half-hour with 10 men. The 1-1 result leaves Olympiakos seven points off the pace, and Panathinaikos in eighth, but just one point behind the fifth spot.

Playing behind closed doors, Olympiakos led on the hour mark with a Costas Fortounis penalty kick after Vangelis Economou was ejected for fouling Karim Ansarifard. Yet the Reds dropped a gear after the goal, allowing Panathinaikos to push higher, create chances and earn a controversial penalty, for a foul that was probably just outside the box. Substitute Anthony Mounier scored three minutes from time to keep the Greens unbeaten to Olympiakos for a third consecutive game.

Three teams are tied in fifth: Panionios, Asteras and Xanthi, that lost 1-0 to fourth-placed Atromitos at Peristeri.

PAS Giannina scored the most spectacular goal of the season, a sideways back-heel by Apostolos Skondras that flew to the other side of goal. However this was not enough for victory on Corfu, as Kerkyra eventually snatched a precious 1-1 draw.

In other weekend games, Lamia has probably renewed its top-flight status beating bottom team Platanias 2-1 at Hania, and Levadiakos came from behind to beat Larissa 2-1.

On Monday Apollon hosts Panetolikos.