Draw seals Greek Cup opening match
The first city derby in four-and-a-half years ended in 1-1 draw. PAOK and Aris engaged in an open encounter. The “Double-Headed Eagle” took the lead but ended up paying for a defensive error and a red card.
Răzvan Lucescu decided to make an extensive rotation compared to the encounter against AEK Athens, by changing 9 of his 11 regulars. He has the Sunday clash against Olympiakos to consider…
PAOK took the reins right from the start, looking for an early opener in a match of high intensity and hard-fought duels. The “Double-Headed Eagle” took the lead with a spot kick by Dimitris Pelkas . Referee Sidiropoulos punished Younés who dealt with an Omar El Kaddouri cross by handing the ball in the 25th minute.
Deep into stoppage time before the interval, Aris took advantage of PAOK’s defensive lapse and García equalized.
PAOK stormed out of the blocks for the second half and wasted a huge opportunity in the 53rd minute, Pelkas missing the target in his one-on-one with Cuesta. At the stroke of the hour, Stelios Kitsiou received his marching orders after his second bookable offense of the evening.
Despite their numerical inferiority, the “Double-Headed Eagle” kept on pushing for the winner, created opportunities to score, but in the end they had to settle with the draw point.
Line-ups:
PΑΟΚ: Rey, Κitsiou, Khacheridi (46’ Μatos), Crespo, Toșca, Wernbloom, Shakhov, Jabá, Pelkas , El Kaddouri (46’ Biseswar), Karelis (77’ Prijović)
Aris: Cuesta, Sousa, Mavraj, Vélez, Menéndez (66’ Basha), Matilla (82’ Diguiny), Siopis, García, Colazo, Gama, Younés (46’ Nazlidis)
