ATHENS (AP) - Substitute Leonidas Kapantais' second-half goal salvaged AEK's 1-1 away draw against Xanthi and a share of the lead in the Greek first division on Saturday.
After a scoreless first half, Xanthi led when Brazilian playmaker Luciano scored in the 46th minute.
AEK's fifth draw gave it 23 points from 11 games, level with Olympiakos Piraeus, which had a match in hand. Piraeus plays Apollon at home on Sunday.
Defending champion Panathinaikos followed with 20 points in third place and can catch the leaders if it beats last-place Ergotelis on Sunday and Piraeus lose.
In other games on Saturday, Aris and Egaleo played to a scoreless draw, and Panionios beat Iraklis 1-0 in Thessaloniki on a goal by Vangelis Mantzios.
Xanthi showed its tactical approach from kickoff when centre forward Stavros Lambriakos was posted in the centre of the defence in a bid by coach Yiannis Mantzourakis to shackle AEK striker Nikos Lymberopoulos.
AEK coach Fernando Santos was without leading scorer Alexandre Soares through injury. The Brazilian forward's absence was evident as the visitors rarely looked threatening.
AEK received another blow in the 19th when defender Stavros Tziortzopoulos broke his leg.
Xanthi controlled the pace of the game in the first period and had its first scoring chance in the 32nd after a clever backheel from Ismaila Ba set up Georgian midfielder Levan Maghradze, who fired narrowly wide.
The hosts set the home crowd alight a minute after the break when Luciano curled in a left-footed free kick into the top right corner of Nikolaos Anastassopoulos's goal. It was Luciano's fifth goal of the season.
AEK almost levelled two minutes later when Bulgarian midfielder Ivan Rusev's close shot was blocked by Anastassopoulos.
Xanthi increasingly relied on counterattacks as AEK struggled for an equalizer, which came in the 71st. Brazilian midfielder Paolo Assuncao floated in a free kick and Kapantais pushed the ball in.
On Sunday it's: OFI vs. PAOK, Kallithea vs. Kerkyra, Ionikos vs. Halkidona, Panathinaikos vs. Ergotelis, and Olympiakos vs. Apollon.