The game, as expected, was not an easy one at all for the home side. Asteras AKTOR came to Thessaloniki to play their football and make it difficult for Razvan Lucescu’s PAOK. The Romanian coach, having to deal with the absences of Schwab, Lovren and Otto , gave Pavlenka a starting jersey, chose a central defensive duo of Wieteska and Kedziora, with Baba and Sastre patroling the full-back positions, while in the midfield Kamara joined Ozdoev in the middle with a trio of A. Zivkovic, Taison and Giannis Konstantelias behind lone frontman behind Samatta.

The game started with the visitors having the first big moment of the match when Munioz tried a shot, but Jiri Pavlenka made a great save to deny him. PAOK responded before the end of the first 15 minutes, with Konstantelias producing a wonderful individual run, only to see his shot hit the post.

In the 22nd minute, Tsintotas saved a direct free-kick by Ozdoev , while two minutes later he had no answer to Taison’s shot. The Brazilian attacking midfielder received the assist from Samatta , who skipped past two defenders before finding Taison with a pass with the outside of his foot, and the former making it 1-0.

PAOK tried to build on the goal and quickly find the second, but Kamara’s shot in the 27th minute went over the crossbar. A few moments later, referee Sidiropoulos pointed to the penalty spot for a tackle by Witieska on Gioacchini, but after a VAR intervention, the referee corrected his decision and chalked off the penalty award.

Until the half-time break, the game had two more good chances, with PAOK missing a double chance with Konstantelias and Samatta both unable to beat Tsintotas, while Pavlenka made another excellent save from Alagbe’s shot. In the end, the 1-0 scoreline remained the same until the end of the first half.

The Double-headed Eagle started the second half stronger and looked for a second goal, which duly came in the 52nd minute. Konstantelias sent over a cross from the right, Tsintotas failed to block it, and Samatta was there to steer the bar into an empty net.

PAOK managed the game well after that, and they had a chance to extend their lead further via Samatta, but he failed to convert the chance. Still, the hosts defended excellently and did not give Asteras AKTOR any opportunities to get back into the game.

The 2-0 scoreline remained intact up until the final whistle, with PAOK mathematically securing their presence in the post-season mini-league, and they now await the result of the derby between AEK and Olympiacos in order to find out the final points gap from the top spot.

Team lineups:

PAOK: Pavlenka, Baba, Sastre, Kedziora, Wietieska, Ozdoev(75′ Meite), Kamara, Konstantelias (75′ Pelkas), Taison (88′ Shoretire), A. Zivkovic (80′ Despondov), Samatta (75′ Brandon)

Asteras AKTOR: Tsintotas, Alvarez, Garcia (61′ Khuhoumis), Delhi, Triantafyllopoulos, Tzandaris (61′ Yamblonski), Alagbe (83′ Zouglis), Mumo, Regis (72′ Kaltsas), Hadjigiovanis (72′ Bile), Gioacchini.