PAOK give it their all but come up short
In a tough battle that ended up lasting 105 minutes, the Double-headed Eagle players put their heart and soul into it, but unfortunately luck was not on their side and Panathinaikos left Toumba Stadium with the three points. It was not a deserved win for the Greens, with a determined PAOK battling with inexhaustible passion until the last second, with the efforts of the players appreciated with a standing ovation from their fans after the final whistle.
PAOK began with Taison, Kargas and Lyratzis in the starting lineup and looked to impose their tempo right from the start. In the third minute, A. Zivkovic missed a great opportunity to open the scoring after a cross from Konstantelias , while three minutes later Kargas then missed another chance with a wayward header.
Panathinaikos missed their only chance in the first half, with Sporar firing wide when put clean through on goal against Kotarski in the 11th minute. PAOK then almost broke the deadlock in the 15th minute, when A. Živkovic was thwarted by visiting ‘keeper Brignoli.
The Double-headed Eagle were in control of proceedings, and with Taison as the driving force in midfield, they looked for corridors between the lines towards the opposition goal, but it was Panathinaikos who found a way to score the opening goal in the 38th minute following a quick-fire counter-attack after a corner in their penalty area.
Juancar crossed from the left, two Panathinaikos players crashed into each other, but the ball fell kindly for Bernard who made it 1-0 to the visitors with a first-time effort on the move.
PAOK sought to respond immediately in the 43rd minute, but Douglas‘ shot hit the post, and the teams went into the dressing rooms at half-time with the visitors leading.
In the third minute of the second half, Panathinaikos looked to score another goal out of nowhere, but Kotarski had an answer to deny Sporar.
From then on, the game became one-way traffic. Panathinaikos were penned back in their half and their main goal became to try and run the clock down. For their part, the Double-headed Eagle began to threaten Brignoli’s goal at every opportunity. Razvan Lucescu threw on every available weapon he had from the bench, and a goal finally came in the 85th minute, with Douglas scoring the equalizer.
The momentum was now firmly in favor of PAOK, but just as they did in the first half, the visitors somehow found another goal. Referee Daniel Siebert, after consulting VAR, awarded a penalty to Panathinaikos for A. Zivkovic’s push on Ioannidis. The Greens forward beat Kotarski, who guessed correctly and got a hand to the effort, but it wasn’t enough to keep the ball out.
Lucescu’s men did not give up after that. In the sixth minute of added time, Siebert awarded a penalty to PAOK when Douglas was tripped by Kleinheisler, but the VAR decision ruled that there was an offside offence at the start of the phase of play. Even this setback did not cause PAOK to stop trying.
With Kotarski taking up a position inside the opposition area for the closing minutes, PAOK managed to create six more goal attempts in what was a frantic end to the game, but luck was not on the hosts’ side and Siebert’s final whistle found the home side ending the match without a point to show for their efforts.
The ovation from the Toumba faithful which followed was the biggest reward for the players, who must leave tonight’s result behind and continue to aim for victories in the final five games that remain in the league, and of course the small matter of the Greek Cup final.
Team lineups:
PAOK: Kotarski, Lyratzis (45′ Vieirinha), Ingason, Kargas, Rafa Soares (73′ El Kaddouri), Augusto, Dantas (68′ Schwab), Konstantelias (83′ Bisesvar), Taison, A. Zivkovic, Oliveira (73′ Brandon).
Panathinaikos: Brignioli, Sanchez (59′ Kotsiras), Magnuson, Schenkefeld, Juancar, Cerin (80′ Kleinheisler), Kourbelis, Perex, Palacios (59′ Mancini), Bernard (80′ Verbic), Sporar (70′ Ioannidis).
