Razvan Lucescu decided to freshen up his starting lineup and gave Sastre, Kamara, Ozdoev, Despodov and Chalov starting berths. The first half was like a continuation of the match against Aris last Sunday.

PAOK were dominant, had control of the game and possession, fashioned a clutch of good chances, hit the post and somehow went into the dressing rooms at half-time a goal behind. During the first quarter of the match, PAOK had two great chances, with Baba initially seeing Tarnovanu impressively save his header when it seemed harder to miss, befire while Taison sent the ball wide with a powerful shot.

In the 20th minute, it was Kamara’s turn to threaten with a header, but he narrowly missed the target. In the 29th minute, Despodov hit the crossbar from a good position, while in the 30th minute, Kotarski was called into action for the first time to save a free-kick by Shut.

In the 32nd minute, Kamara fired in a shot from outside the area but missed the target, while seven minutes later Tarnovanu produced the save of teh half when he blocked Taison’s effort from a one-on-one chance after he was sent clean through on goal by a Konstantelias pass. In the 42nd minute, Kamara headed goalwards again but the ball flashed past the post. But despite being in the ascendancy, PAOK had a defensive lapse and FCSB found the opportunity to take the lead.

In the last phase of the first half, Olaru wriggled free down the right and crossed into the path of Birlicea who could not miss from close range to make it 1-0 to the visitors, who could hardly believe their luck.

The second half started with Despodov threatening in the 52nd minute with a powerful shot which went wide, while four minutes later, the numerical balance of the match swung in the home side’s favour. Olaru handballed and was shown a second yellow card followed by a red.

In the 60th minute, Sastre produced a low, powerful strike from outside the penalty area, with the ball going inches past Tarnovano’s goal, while two minutes later the Romanian goalkeeper made an incredible save from Ozdoev’s header.

In the last part of the match, FCSB could only sit back and try to defend and simply tried to buy time to run down the clock. PAOK, for their part, piled on the pressure in search of an equalizing goal, and had another effort hit the post, this time from Michailidis, but the hosts could not find the goal they needed and suffered a second European defeat in as many games.

Team lineups:

PAOK: Kotarski, Baba, Michailidis, Kedziora, Sastre (A.Zivkovic 70′), Kamara (Bakayoko 70′), Ozdoev (Schwab 73′), Konstantelias, Taison, Despodov (Shoretire 83′), Chalov (Tissoudali 70′) .

Steaua Bucharest: Tarnovanu, Kretou, Dava, Tanase (Oct. Popescu 64′), Chut, Birligea, Lixandrou (Etzuma 45+5′), M. Popescu, Baluta (Miculescu 46′), Olaru, Radunovic.