Thessaloniki-based PAOK also became the first non-Athens team to win the league title since Larissa did it back in 1988.
The hosts, in front of a fiery crowd at their Toumba stadium, kicked off proceedings early with Yevhen Shakhov tapping in from close range in the third minute.
Diego Biseswar made it 2-0 with a chipped penalty in the eighth and Fernando’s darting header in the 53rd triggered wild celebrations in the stands, with fans lighting dozens of flares.
Shakhov added a fourth on the hour and Karol Swiderski completed the rout nine minutes from time to make sure Romanian coach Razvan Lucescu’s team stays unbeaten in a near-flawless campaign.
They are on 77 points, with second-placed Olympiakos on 72 and one game left in the season.
Thousands of PAOK fans celebrated the expected title win a day early on Saturday with a march along the northern city’s promenade.
They started pouring onto the streets on the final whistle on Sunday to celebrate the club’s third league title and their first since 1985.
The triumph is especially sweet for PAOK, who have a long-standing bitter football rivalry with Athenian clubs, after they missed out on last season’s league crown due to their own fans’ trouble during the final matches of the campaign.
Apart from having points docked, the club also had Russian-born owner Ivan Savvidis banned for three years after storming on to the pitch with a gun in a holster.
On Sunday, Savvidis greeted each player outside the stadium before the game and remained in the vicinity, watching the game on television.
PAOK celebrated on Sunday, and well into Monday morning, the third league title in its history, and the first after 34 years on a historic night at Toumba Stadium of Thessaloniki.
The new Super League champion defeated relegated Levadiakos 5-0 to retain its five-point advantage over Olympiakos with just one game left to play. The match was quickly reduced into a formality, with two goals by Yevhen Sakhov and strikes by Diego Biseswar, Fernando Varela and Karol Swiderski.
The most touching moment of the evening was on the 90th minute, when PAOK’s injured captain Adelino Vieirinha limped to the touchline to become the team’s third substitution. Therefore despite his injury – he is about to undergo operation soon – he entered the pitch, with tears in his eyes, as the 35,000 fans at the 33,000-seat stadium chanted his name.
An hour later he would take the coveted Super League trophy in his hands to lift it in ecstasy.
PAOK has won the title with 77 points out of a possible 87 points having started on minus two, and will become only the second ever team to finish the league unbeaten if its avoids defeat on May 5 at PAS Giannina.
This may not be as easy as it appears on paper, as the Ioannina team was on the verge of relegation on Sunday losing 2-1 at Panionios, but the equalizer of Asteras Tripolis at OFI (1-1 final score) has meant PAS will stay up if it beats PAOK at home and OFI loses at Atromitos.
For Atromitos, victor of Panathinaikos with a 2-0 score on Sunday, the match against OFI gives it the chance to overtake AEK right at the end and finish third, if AEK fails to beat Levadiakos away. This is due to the shock 1-0 home loss AEK suffered to Larissa, from a Slavko Bralic goal.
Olympiakos downed host Lamia 3-1 with goals from Mady Camara, Costas Fortounis and Ahmed Hasan. Jean Luc Assoubre had equalized for Lamia.
In the day’s other games, Aris won 2-1 at Panetolikos and Xanthi eclipsed relegated Apollon Smyrnis 2-0.
This has been the first time in three decades (from the 1987-1990 period) that there have been three different league champions in the last three years, with Olympiakos in 2017, AEK last year and PAOK now.
