Miguel Angel Guerrero

PAOK and Olympiakos dropped their first points this season, in their local derbies, with PAOK leaving it very late to avoid a home loss to Aris and Olympiakos conceding a late equalizer at the Derby of Eternal Rivals on Sunday to draw with host Panathinaikos.

Champion PAOK extended its perfect start in the Super League beating Atromitos in a thrilling game at Peristeri, but so did challenger Olympiakos and surprise package Xanthi, all making it three out of three.

Olympiakos had to wait 50 minutes on Tuesday to break the deadlock with Viktoria Plzen, but then cruised through to the third qualifying round of the Champions League as it won 4-0 at home after the goalless draw away a week earlier.

The Super League resumed after three weeks of forced recess due to the referee strike, with PAOK and Olympiakos scoring away wins, while Atromitos and Panathinaikos conceded draws at home.

Olympiakos built on the self-confidence its triumph over AC Milan on Thursday has given it, and thrashed Lamia at home on Sunday to rise to second in the Super League, leapfrogging Atromitos who succumbed to host Panathinaikos.

PAOK narrowly managed to preserve its six-point lead over Olympiakos with a win at Lamia, as the Reds also struggled to beat Panetolikos at home on Monday.

It is cold December evenings on the road like this one that decide the champions, and on Monday PAOK was a man down in the second half but still managed to beat Lamia 1-0 thanks to a Fernando Varela second-half strike.

Olympiakos scored its first victory at the group stage of the Europa League, beating Dudelange 2-0 in Luxembourg on Thursday, while PAOK lost precious ground going down 2-0 at home to Hungarian champion Vidi.

AEK, PAOK, Olympiakos, Panathinaikos and Aris doubled up their wins at the second round of Super League games over the weekend.

Champion AEK had a hard time beating Asteras at Tripoli on Saturday, winning 1-0 thanks to a Petros Mantalos first-half penalty kick.