Fotis Ioannidis executed AEK from the eleven meters and Panathinaikos celebrated a valuable victory in the battle for the title. The Greens were cynical in their game, completely imposing their rhythm from the first to the last second, they prevailed 1-0 and overtook AEK in the standings one week before the “eternal” derby with Olympiacos at G. Karaiskakis stadium.

Ioannidis scored his fourth personal goal in the derby against AEK and his sixth overall this season, and the Shamrock achieved its 60th victory over the Yellow and Black team in 153 matches of the First Division. Most importantly, however, Rui Vitoria’s team confirmed with its performance in yet another game that it has been on a steady upward trajectory since the arrival of the Portuguese coach. The Greens remained unbeaten for the 15th consecutive game in all competitions (twelve wins and three draws), having recently had two wins (PAOK, AEK) and one draw (Olympiakos) in the derby.

OAKA’s game, however, was quite closed and nervous at the start. It is indicative that for more than 35 minutes not a single notable phase was recorded! AEK had possession of the ball, but it was completely meaningless as Panathinaikos had absolute control of the pace on the field.

At the same time, the Greens were patient in their game, looking for their… moment, which they found in the 38th minute. Pellistri moved quickly into the area after a spin by Jonsson, caught up and nipped the ball in front of Strakosha, who overturned him. The referee awarded the blatant penalty and Ioannidis executed with force to the right side of the AEK goalkeeper, making it 1-0.

The Greens, having the momentum in its favor, pressured AEK and touched the second goal. In the 42nd minute, Vagiannidis combined nicely with Arao, entered the opposing area, shot diagonally but Strakosha blocked with difficulty, keeping the score at 1-0 until the end of the half.

The second 45 minutes were played at the same tempo with Panathinaikos in complete control of the match. In the 69th minute, the Greens found their way to the net after a nice move by Pellistri and an ideal finish by Ioannidis. However, after a VAR intervention, the referee conducted an on-field review, canceling the goal for a handball by the team captain.

In the 90th minute, Panathinaikos came within a breath of the goal again, after a wonderful effort by Vagiannidis, who turned the ball at the height of the penalty spot but Mancini’s shot went over the posts. AEK threatened for the first and last time in the 93rd minute after a cross from Rota and a header from Lamela, but the ball ended up out of bounds.

Panathinaikos: Dragowski, Vagiannidis, Mladenovic, Ingason, Palmer Brown, Arao, Maksimovic, Bakasetas (61′ Cerin), Pellistri (85′ Mancini), Djuricic (61′ Tete), Ioannidis (80′ Jeremejeff).

AEK: Strakosha, Rota, Hadjisafi (74′ Koita), Vida, Mitoglou (46′ Szymanski), Jonsson (80′ Ljubicic), Pineda, Pereira, Garcia (74′ Fernandes), Lamela, Martial (80′ Piero).