Stelios Malezas’s and Apostolos Papavassiliou’s side produced a consumate and professional 90 minutes against the Arcadians. The hosts dominated possession, showed patience in their play, produced some excellent football, and of course had the necessary substance and goals to win the game.

The main protagonist was George Koutsias. The young Double-headed Eagle ace was on song and managed to be involved in all four goals.

In the 13th minute, he produced an individual moment of magic, beating four defenders before finishing clinically to open the scoring. Then, in the 24th minute, he collected an assist from Koutentakis and calmly slotted the ball past the opposing goalkeeper to make it 2-0 to end the scoring in the first half.

In the second half, the Double-headed Eagle made it 3-0 in the 52nd minute and essentially locked up the victory. After a corner by Aventisian, Koutsias attempted a scissor-kick, and the ball rebounded and ended up at the feet of Giaxis, who scored from close range.

In the 87th minute, Koutsias chalked up a hat-trick. After taking on a slick pass from Spirakos, he threaded the ball through the legs of the opposing goalkeeper with a powerful shot to complete the scoring.

PAOK now just need one victory from their next two games against Aris (away) and Panathinaikos (home) to celebrate winning yet another championship at this level.

PAOK lineup:

Balomenos, Tassiouras, Aventisian (73′ Kitsakis), Koulierakis, Panagiotou, Giaxis (73′ Spyrakos), Tsopouroglou, Koutentakis (58′ Karaberis), Gordeziani (58′ Smyrlis), Grosdis (50′ Tsikos), Koutsias