Andrija Zivkovic returned to the starting lineup, along with Tsiftsis, Kenny, Taylor, Michailidis, Vogliacco, Zafeiris, Kamara, Bianco, Hatsidis and Jeremejeff, while Ivanusec and Konstantelias also returned to the team’s squad, with coach Razvan Lucescu without the suspended Kedziora and the injured Pelkas, Despodov, Taison, Meite, Lovren and Pavlenka .

PAOK started the game strongly, kept the ball and imposed their rhythm onto their opponents. In its first real threat, PAOK managed to take the lead as well. Kenny crossed the ball to the penalty area, Yeremeyev found Bianco with a backheel, and the Italian fired in a shot which Hadjiemmanouil saved, but Hatsidis wad there on the rebound to send the ball into the net.

In the 13th minute, A. Zivkovic crossed for Zafeiris, and his effort ended up at the feet of Hatsidis, but the youngster’s shot did not find the net. The Double-headed Eagle continued to threaten with shots from Zafeiris and A. Zivkovic, but neither found the net.

The pace of the game dropped as it approached halftime, with PAOK dominating but not creating any clar chances, with the 1-0 score unchanged. In the second half, the pattern of the match did not change.

In the 61st minute, Michailidis found Hatsidis with an excellent ball, and the latter entered the penalty area and took a shot, but Hadjiemmanouil in the Asetras goal parried it for a corner. A minute later, Bianco attempted an effort from outside the penalty area, but it flashed wide of the post.

In the 68th minute, Gioacchini tried to catch out Tsiftsis , but the PAOK goalkeeper came out and cleared the danger, while in the 74th minute, Konstantelias , with one of his first touches of the ball after coming off the bench, was denied by Hadjiemmanouil in a one-on-one situation. In the next minute, PAOK scored through Taylor but the ‘goal’ was disallowed for offside.

In the 78th minute, Kenny then crossed the ball, but Jeremejeff’s shot on the move was off target, while Hadjiemmanouil had the answer to an attempt by Konstantelias in the 82nd minute.

In the 89th minute, the busy Asteras goalkeeper made another save from Mythos’ header, but the young PAOK forward provided the assist for captain Zivkovic a minute later, with the Serb scoring with a perfect finish made it 2-0 and secured the three points.

PAOK moved on to 50 points, three less than leaders AEK and Olympiacos, but also with one in hand, against Kifissia, which will be played on Wednesday (04.03).

Team lineups:

PAOK: Tsiftsis, Kenny (87′ Sanchez), Vogliacco, Michailidis, Taylor, Zafeiris, Kamara (77′ Ozdoev), Bianco (73′ Konstantelias), A. Zivkovic, Hatzidis (73′ Ivanusec), Jeremejeff (87′ Mythou).

Asteras AKTOR: Hatziemmanouil, Sila (46′ Pomonis), Deligiannidis, Ivanov, Triantafyllopoulos, Tzandaris (46′ Alagbe), Yablonski, Bartolo (84′ Medieta), Mitrovic, Kaltsas (72′ Emmanuelides), Makeda (63′ Gioacchini).