Aris shocks AEK, Apollon holds PAOK
Aris beat AEK in Athens and Apollon held PAOK to a draw in Thessaloniki, meaning Olympiakos is just one point away of clinching the top spot for the regular season of the Super League.
The Reds have extended their lead further at the top to 15 points, five games from the end of the regular season that will be followed by a round-robin, home-and-away tournament involving the top six teams which will carry over their season’s points tally.
OFI posed little problems to Olympiakos in Piraeus on Sunday, with the champion strolling to a 3-0 win thanks to strikes by Yann M’Vila, Giorgos Massouras and Youssef El-Arabi.
Aris has moved back up to second at the table downing host AEK at the Olympic Stadium with a 2-0 triumph on Sunday. Lindsay Rose and Xande Silva were on target for Aris in its second win this season at the same stadium after downing Panathinaikos too.
PAOK stumbled against Apollon Smyrnis, drawing 2-2 at Toumba. The hosts went ahead with Amr Warda, but Apollon turned things around through a Savvas Tsabouris penalty and a Mark Fernandez strike. Sverrir Ingi Ingasson spared PAOK’s blushes two minutes from time.
These results have brought Olympiakos to 57 points after 21 games, with Aris on 42 and PAOK joining AEK on 40.
Panathinaikos is on 38 after the most exciting game of the weekend when it beat Atromitos 3-2 away on Saturday. Fran Velez, Carlitos and new signing Younousse Sankhare scored for the Greens, with the Peristeri club equalizing twice via Dimitris Goutas and Amir Agayev, on the debut of coach Vangelis Pantelidis who returned to the bench he had left seven months earlier.
Asteras remained two points behind Panathinaikos with its 1-0 win at Volos, while the bottom-of-the-table six-point between Lamia and Larissa did not take place as the visitors were informed a few hours before kickoff that the players signed in the winter transfer window have had their contracts suspended due to a Larissa check that bounced. Larissa protested the decision and the courts will rule about the outcome of this game.
On Monday Panetolikos meets PAS Giannina.
