Being the champions, three days after mathematically winning their 14th title in their history, AEK stood tall in Toumba against PAOK, who were burning for victory. The 1-1 draw between the two teams in the fifth round of the Super League play-offs left a bitter taste in the mouth of Razvan Louchescu’s side and a bittersweet one in that of Marko Nikolic.

And that was as the Gitrinomarians took the lead in the 73rd through Luka Jovic, had a cross earlier through Zinni and seemed to control the tempo. However, from a set piece, Anestis Mythou equalized in the 88th minute. In a game in which two who came off the bench scored, AEK extended their unbeaten run and PAOK fell behind in the chase for second place leading to UEFA Champions League qualifying.

Union went in with the air of champions but their naivety almost cost them on 14 minutes. From Domagoji Vida’s misplaced pass, Tyson fed Alexander Geremeyev, with Alberto Brignoli parrying the Swedish forward’s cross.

Four minutes later, it was Jiri Pavlenka’s turn to keep zero in his goal, parrying away Barnabas Varga’s header from James Penrays’ corner – on the ensuing corner, Vida’s aerial shot was off target.

A second missed chance for the visitors just before half-time, with Pavlenka stopping Zini, who had gone one-on-one from a wide position, and Joao Mario shooting, the ball deflected and went past the left-hand post.

The Yellow and Black were showing more freshness and spirit, with the Black and Whites getting a misplaced header from Yeremeyev on 33 minutes after Tyson’s cross.

Tomas Kenziora beat Varga at the last minute before… into the net after Lazaros Rota’s partnership with Razvan Marin on the right on 35′, to close out the first half with a very good header from Swalio Maite, after – again – a corner from Tyson, with the ball finding the top of Brignoli’s net. With Olympiacos beating Panathinaikos at half-time, Razvan Louchescu’s side needed to play more aggressively.

And they did for a quarter. Tyson’s turn found Brinioli at the ready, Konstantellia’s shot was stopped by Rota while Kenzziora’s header at the front post found no teammate at the back in an attacking crescendo by Razvan Lucescu’s team.

In the opposite goal, Orbelin Pineda’s shot on 55 minutes after Abubakari Koita had straightened the ball, found no target. In the next minute, the Black and Whites squandered an unlikely double chance.

Yannis Konstantelias, Yeremeyev, Tyson combined, Andrija Zivkovic crossed with Brinioli making an unlikely intervention and Vida putting it past Yeremeyev who shot into an empty net. For AEK to “respond” with two classic chances after the hour mark. First, Koita brought out Zini on the counter-attack, the Angolan “danced” Kenziora but shot into the horizontal bar of Pavlenka’s goal.

The scene was repeated two minutes later. Koita won the sprint from Kenziora, “pinched” the ball in front of Pavlenka but it went out of bounds. He turned to Joao Mario who shot hard, with the Czech goalkeeper making a difficult corner save.

Nikolić’s superiority was rewarded in the 73rd minute, with all the substitutions working together.

Robert Ljubisic carried the ball up the midfield, passing to Marin, the Romanian cut left to Derek Kutesa, he found Jovic in the wide area and the Serb took a counter-attack and fired a right-footed shot to make it 0-1.

Goal number 21 of the season for the former Real Madrid, AC Milan and Eintracht Frankfurt ace, among others. Lucescu added a second forward in the game and was vindicated.

From Zivkovic’s corner, Mythu beat Vida and headed in a 1-1 draw on 88 minutes. It was to be the final score, with champions AEK remaining unbeaten for a 23rd consecutive league game and dropping PAOK to third place, two points behind Olympiacos.

The Union welcome the Reds on Sunday (17/5, 19:30) in the title fiesta, while the Black and White host Panathinaikos on the same day and time on the Avenue. It is reminded that in case of a tie between PAOK and Olympiacos, Louchescu’s team has the advantage.

Referee: Sven Yablonski (Germany)
Yellows: Baba, Bianco, Zivkovic – Koita.

The line-ups of the two teams:

PAOK (Razvan Lucescu): Pavlenka, Kenny (46′ Sanchez), Kendziora, Michaelides, Baba, Ozdoev, Maite (75′ Bianco), Zivkovic, Konstantinas (85′ Yiakoumakis), Tyson (82′ Pelka), Yeremeyev (74′ Mythou).
AEK (Marko Nikolic):Brinioli, Rota, Vida, Relvas, Penrais, Pineda, Marin, Joao Mario (71′ Kutesa), Koita (63′ Jovic), Varga (46′ Lubisic), Zini (83′ Mandalos).