League challenger Panathinaikos snatched a 1-0 victory from breakaway leader, defending champion and archrival Olympiakos at its Karaiskaki Stadium last night, the visiting soccer club’s first win there in 11 seasons.

Panathinaikos went ahead a minute before the end of regular time when striker Dimitris Salpiggidis stole the ball from Olympiakos defender Giorgos Anatolakis and set up for Dimitris Papadopoulos, who put the ball away with one touch.

The win kept Panathinaikos in second place, two points ahead of AEK. With six rounds of play remaining, the two Athenian clubs are battling for the Super League’s second spot and a berth in next season’s pre-group qualifiers for the Champions League.

Olympiakos, on 59 points from 24 games, now holds an eight-point lead over Panathinaikos. The Piraeus club would be mathematically assured of its 10th title in 11 seasons should it accumulate a further 11 points from its six remaining games.

Last night’s encounter was interrupted shortly after Panathinaikos went ahead when Olympiakos fans tossed several flares onto the pitch and filled the stadium with smoke. Also, a couple of hours before the kickoff, a number of home team fans managed to scramble into the arena without tickets, prompting riot police to use tear gas to disperse other invaders. On a brighter note, young Panathinaikos star Sotiris Ninis, not yet 17, was applauded by rival fans when substituted late in the game.

Playing Saturday, AEK scored three second-half goals to beat Aris 3-1.

In yesterday’s other games, it was: Aegaleos-Panionios, 0-2; Ergotelis-Atromitos, 1-0; Iraklis-Apollon Kalamaria, 0-1; Kerkyra-PAOK, 0-0; Larissa-OFI, 1-2. In Saturday’s other game, visiting Xanthi defeated Ionikos, 2-0.