Razvan Lucescu had to deal with the absences of Kiril Despodov and Tomasz Kedziora and his team lined up with Kotarski between the posts, Sastre and Baba in the full-back positions,with a duo of Michailides and Wieteska in central defence. In the midfield in front of them were Kamara and Ozdoev , while the trio behind lone striker Chalov included Pelkas, Konstantelias and A. Zivkovic.

PAOK made a strong start and were two goals ahead after just 11 minutes. The first strike came in the fifth minute, when a long ball upfield from Kotarski was colleted by Chalov who produced a wonderful assist to Konstantelias, with the Greek forward beating Tzolakis to make it 1-0.

Six minutes later it was Kamara’s turn to find the net. A. Zivkovic took a corner and the Double-headed Eagle midfielder rose to head home in stylish fashion to make it 2-0 and and send the home fans into frenzied celebrations in the stands of the Toumba.

A few minutes later, Kamara missed a great opportunity to make it 3-0 after a headed pass from Michailidis, but he sent the ball narowly over Tzolakis’ crossbar.

The pace of the match dropped noticeably after that, and until the end of the first half, there were no major opportunities, apart from a speculative shot from Olympiacos midfielder Hezze that was blocked by Michailides, while for PAOK’s part, in the 36th minute Konstantelias skipped past Biancone, but Carmo managed to catch up with the young forward and prevent him getting a shot away.

The second half started in the opposite way compared to the first for PAOK. Pelkas missed a great chance to score in the 51st minute after a pass from Baba , as he slipped before executing his shot, but moments later Olympiacos then found a goal to get back in the game. Yaremchuk got in behind the home defence, crossed into the box and Michaelidis was unlucky as the ball ricocheted off him and ended up in the back of Kotarski’s net for 2-1.

Despite that goal, the tempo of the match remained moderate, with both teams threatening from Chiquinho for Olympiacos and Ozdoev for the hosts, but neither player could find the target. The two coaches made several substitutions and the next important phase of the match came in the 75th minute. The match referee Stegeman indicated a foul by Kamara on Yaremchuk and sent off the PAOK man, leaving Lucescu’s team with 10 players for the final quarter of the match.

However, PAOK dug in and held on, not allowing Olympiacos many chances to threaten and the German referee’s final whistle was greeted with triumphant celebrations among the home fans who celebrated a satisfying derby win.

Team lineups:

PAOK (Razvan Lucescu): Kotarski, Baba, Sastre, Michailides, Wieteska, Kamara, Ozdoev (83′ Schwab), Konstantelias (78′ Meite), Pelkas (65′ Taison), A. Zivkovic, Chalov (65′ Samatta).

Olympiacos (Jose Luis Mendilibar): Tzolakis, Pirola, Carmo, Biancone (46′ Martins), Costinha (46′ Bruno), Garcia (86′ Mouzakitis), Hezze (72′ Palma), Chiquinho, Rodinei, Yaremchuk, El Caabi.