A late header from Avraam Papadopoulos gave Olympiacos a late 2-1 win over PAOK in Thessaloniki on Sunday night, the Greece defender securing a second dramatic win for the Piraeus giants in as many matches.
With new manager Zico not set to make his appearance on the sidelines until midweek, Bozidar Bandovic led Olympiacos to the Toumba Stadium, and the Greek-speaking Serb earned his second win as many games on the side-lines.
An early strike from Vierinha might have derailed Bandovic's plans when he put PAOK in front on ten minutes, but an equalizer from Diogo just before the interval queued up a dramatic second half; Papadopoulos, of course, managing to earn full points for the Erythrolefki.
With a rowdy Toumba crowd cheering them on, PAOK got off to a good start just ten minutes with an early goal putting PAOK in front. Vierinha, who earlier missed a one-time volley, gave PAOK the lead when he connected with a header off Olivier Sorlin's corner - the goal instantly becoming Olympiacos' first conceded tally in all competitions so far this season.
Catching the visitors off-guard with their early marker, PAOK looked to pad their advantage soon after. Their next chance, however, was far less spectacular when Giorgos Fotakis had a crack at goal on twenty-minutes. The Greek midfielder, one whose known especially for his long-distance efforts, hardly managed to steer his shot on goal; instead firing a weak grounded effort on Olympiacos 'keeper Antonis Nikopolidis - the former Greece international collecting the ball with ease.
Olympiacos, who had fallen on the back foot thanks to a controlled start by PAOK, got their first chance on the half-hour mark. Kostas Chalkias, however, was left untested as Diogo's shot soared up and over the PAOK goal.
A similar result from Dudu's free-kick five minutes later left Olympiacos in need of more accuracy, the former CSKA Moscow midfielder also firing unfashionably wide of the Chalkias' goal.
But Olympiacos would eventually find the net; in fact, Diogo found the back of the net when he headed home a cross from Vasilis Torosidis - the Brazilian striker finding twine in the Super League for the first time since January.
Energized by the goal, Olympiacos looked keen on grabbing a second just minutes later, but Torosidis' skilled manoeuvre to escape Lino was left to go to waste as the Greece international fired a cross invitingly into the arms of Chalkias.
Knotted at 1-1 after the first half, the only change ahead of the second frame was PAOK's withdrawal of Zlatan Muslimovic for Lucio Filomeno; the latter making an introduction after the Bosnian striker picked up an injury late in the first half.
Although PAOK started the first half with an offensive intensity, the second half saw an inferior initiative in attack; both sides featuring in a tense tactical battle in the early moments after the restart.
Unlike the first half though, it was Olympiacos who pushed for a goal first, but Olof Mellberg's aerial effort was nowhere near goal when the Swede rose best to Dudu's swinging cross.
The Greek Champions continued to look for a goal, and after Torosidis managed to pickpocket the PAOK defense, Olympiacos looked certain to score when the Greek defender played a cross for Diogo, but the Brazilian striker was robbed of a goal by a leaping Chalkias.
PAOK revived their attack just after the hour mark, and came acutely close to regaining the lead when Fotakis fired just wide of Nikopolidis' goal.
Nikopolidis was under fire once again, but again the Greek 'keeper wasn't required to make a save as Sorlin directed his effort wide.
PAOK's trend of antagonizing with near missed continued to perplex the home crowd and manager Fernando Santos, the next to disappoint was Bruno Cirillo when the Italian center-back flashed his header just wide.
The nearest of misses, however, didn't come until the seventy-sixth minute when Filomeno broke free of two markers only to smash his effort off the crossbar. The former Asteras Tripolis showed great strength in holding off Mellberg, but just couldn't find a finish past Nikopolidis.
Making his introduction soon after Filomeno's miss, at the other end Konstantinos Mitroglou looked to mark his entrance in emphatic fashion, but his effort with ten minutes still on the clock was easily fisted down by Chalkias.
As the match headed for what seemed to be an unavoidable stalemate, Olympiacos managed to linger in the PAOK end with an offensive edge. Their ability to stick around paid off at the death, a tackled on Torosidis earning Olympiacos a free-kick in a promising position.
Dudu swung in the set-piece, finding Torosidis at the back post who played a header down for Avraam Papadopoulos and the latter made no mistake as he buried his header for a late 2-1 lead for Olympiacos.
A bitter end to the derby for PAOK, the hosts unable to find a reply with just two minutes of added time left on the clock.
The loss sees PAOK slump to a two-match winless run after a 1-1 draw in Tripoli last weekend, while Olympiacos recover from their 0-0 draw with Kavala from last weekend.
Both sides will be in action during midweek as the Super League makes up for two previously postponed fixtures from the season's opening round fixtures. Both sides will be on the road this Wednesday, Olympiacos visiting AEK in Athens while PAOK are hosted by Panionios in Nea Smyrni.
PAOK FC 1-2 Olympiacos CFP Vierinha 10' - Diogo 41', A. Papadopoulos 90'
