SLGR Standings: Panathinaikos do Olympiacos a favour
As a result of PAOK losing to Panathinaikos in Athens, Olympiacos now have a two-point lead in first place of the Super League, while AEK gained more momentum under the leadership of Massimo Carrera.
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2020 isn’t quite going to plan for PAOK. At the turn of the year, the Dikefalos tou Vorra lost their long unbeaten run in the Super League when conceding defeat to Aris, and the reigning champions have now suffered their second setback of the campaign against Panathinaikos at the Olympic Stadium. In the second half of play in Athens, Federico Macheda opened the scoring for the hosts, before Tasos Chatzigiovanis doubled the advantage when clean through. Having won their past five straight, Panathinaikos remain in fourth, four points behind AEK. PAOK trail league leaders Olympiacos by two points.
A day earlier, Olympiacos had breezed past inconsistent Xanthi at the Karaiskakis Stadium, cruising to a routine 3-1 triumph with goals from Hillal Soudani, Youssef El Arabi and Vasilis Fasidis’ own goal. In excellent form, Olympiacos lead the Super League table with 54 points on the board, while Xanthi are in seventh spot.
In Peristeri, AEK continued their improvement with Carrera at the helm, defeating Atromitos 1-0 with Serbian midfielder Nenad Krsticic heading in the winning goal during the second half. Incidentally, Krsticic was sent off in stoppage time, but that didn’t prevent AEK from successfully seeing out them match. Holding 41 points, AEK stay in third, but Atromitos are now down in ninth with 26 points from 22 games.
Elsewhere, fifth-placed Aris eased to a 2-0 triumph over rock-bottom Panionios, Asteras Tripolis defeated struggling Panetolikos 2-1 with a last-gasp goal, Volos NFC moved above Lamia into 11th position with a win against the latter and AE Larissa held OFI to a 0-0 draw in Heraklion.
Player of the Week: Youssef El Arabi (Olympiacos)
The 32-year-old Moroccan striker is certainly enjoying life in Greece. In the win against Xanthi, he set up Hillal Soudani’s goal with a neat assist, before he subsequently doubled Olympiacos’ lead in the 43rd minute when turning a free-kick beyond the goalkeeper. Another productive display.
Goal of the Week: Bruno Gama (Aris)
With 31 minutes on the clock, Bruno Gama was allowed to take aim from long range, and the Portuguese midfielder thumped an unstoppable effort into the right corner to hand Aris the lead against Panionios in Thessaloniki. A true hit.
2019/2020 Super League regular season standings after 22 rounds:
Olympiacos, 54 points
PAOK, 52 points
AEK, 41 points
Panathinaikos, 37 points
Aris, 32 points
OFI, 28 points
Xanthi, 27 points
Atromitos, 26 points
AEL, 25 points
Asteras Tripolis, 25 points
Volos NFC, 25 points
Lamia, 24 points
Panetolikos, 13 points
Panionios, 9 points*
*Panionios deducted six points as a result of not obtaining Super League licence
