PAOK held on to the leadership of the SuperLeague on Sunday after grinding out a hard-fought 2-1 home win over a spirited Panaitolikos side at the Toumba in Thessaloniki.

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It wasn’t pretty but PAOK did just about enough to claim the three points against Traianos Dellas’ team, as an own goal from visiting defender Nikos Marinakis and Chuba Akpom’s first league goal for the club proved decisive.

Alhassan Kamara made it a tense finish by pulling a goal back for Panaitolikos in the 71st minute, but Razvan Lucescu’s PAOK held on to seal another win as well as maintain their unbeaten record.

The result means PAOK are two points clear of second-placed Atromitos at the the top of the table, having collected 26 points from 10 matches played. Panaitolikos are ninth with 12 points.

THE MATCH

After being held to a draw against Atromitos last time out, PAOK were eager to get back to winning ways and keep their solid domestic momentum going, especially after slumping to another poor Europa League defeat by Hungarian minnows FC Vidi in mid-week.

But although PAOK dominated and moved the ball around comfortably in front of Panaitolikos, the visitors’ packed defence was able to repel the home side without breaking too much of a sweat due to the sheer numbers they had behind the ball.

Dimitris Pelkas did have a clear sight of goal after 16 minutes, however, when Diego Biseswar made himself room and sent over a precise cross. Pelkas met the ball perfectly, but his header was saved brilliantly by Panaitolikos goalkeeper Dimitris Kyriakidis.

Pelkas and Ukrainian midfielder Yevhen Shakhov both sent efforts wide before half-time as PAOK searched for a breakthrough, and Panaitolikos’ resistance was finally broken by two goals within three minutes in the second half.

Young winger Dimitris Limnios was the architect, crossing for striker Aleksandar Prijovic in the 63rd minute. The Serbian frontman was challenged by Marinakis in the air, and under pressure only contrived to direct the ball past his own keeper.

The 1-0 scoreline quickly became 2-0 just three minutes later when Shakhov’s shot was touched onto the post by Kyriakidis, only for Akpom to ram home the rebound and spark wild celebrations among the PAOK fans.

To their credit, however, Panaitolikos did not crumble and came back at PAOK as they sought to score a goal that would open up the match again. And it came 19 minutes from full-time when Franco Mazurek’s headed pass teed up Kamara, who made no mistake from close range.

But although there was a nervy finish to the game from the home side, Panaitolikos did not have the quality to create any further clear scoring chances.

STARTING LINEUPS

PAOK: 31 Paschalakis(GK), 70 Kitsiou, 5 Varela, 15 Crespo, 6 Tosca, 87 Canas, 28 Shakhov, 18 Limnios, 10 Pelkas, 21 Biseswar, 9 Prijovic

PANAITOLIKOS: 82 Kyriakidis, 21 Marinakis, 47 Malis, 88 Arghus, 19 Tsokanis, 11 Diaz, 18 Lucero, 7 Mana, 10 Mazurek, 94 Willyan, 93 Kamara



HIGHLIGHTS: PAOK - PANETOLIKOS