Again with its backs to the wall, PAOK managed to stand firm and fight once more. After conceding a very early goal, the Double-headed Eagle of the North also lost its captain shortly afterwards through injury. Not only that, the hosts also found themselves a player down in the second half. But PAOK kept pressing right until the end, and then from being a goal behind against the run of play, the team battled back to score late on and make sure it left the pitch with its unbeaten record intact.

Both teams found the net at the start of the first half as the game began at a frenetic pace. Aris went in front courtesy of Ideye’s effort following a corner, while PAOK responded with a header from Matos , the goal also coming from a corner by Misic. And that’s where the action more or less stopped as far as the first half was concerned, until PAOK scored in the second minute of added time, only for the goal to be ruled out following a VAR review.

The second half was another story. PAOK enjoyed more of the possession and tried to play its way through Aris, penning the visitors in their own half for long spells. In the 67th minute though, those plans were changed by the sending off of Matos, who received a second yellow card followed by a red. Aris stepped up their game after that with the numerical advantage. In reality though, the visitors only managed to create one significant scoring chance, when Paschalakis blocked an Ideye shot shortly before Sasha was sent off for Aris for a second yellow card offence.

With the numbers now even, Abel Ferreira’s men took the initiative again and went in search of a winning goal, but against the run of play it was Matilla who scored for Aris to make it 1-2 with a deflected shot – an effort that represented only the visitors’ third attempt on goal overall.

The home side did not give up though and after Varela hit the crossbar, PAOK managed to preserve its unbeaten record with a superb goal from Misic following a cross from Biseswar.

Team lineups:

ΠΑΟΚ (Abel Ferreira): Paschalakis, Matos, Varela, Crespo, Giannoulis, Douglas, Misic, Jaba (56′ El Kaddouri), Pelkas, (15΄Limnios), Biseswar, Akpom (70′ Swiderski)

Άρης (Τόλης Τερζής): Cuesta (46′ Ehmann), Sundgren, Rose, Velez, Korhut, Sasha, Matilla, Diguiny, Fetfatzidis (85′ Souza), Gama (64′ Larsson), Ideye