Pregame
Kick Off
Half Time
Goals
Penalty
Substitution
Corners
Offside
Opportunity
Barshot
Comment
Yellow Card
Second Yellow Card
Red card
Missed Penalty
Stunning comeback win for PAOK
Despite doing themselves a major disservice for a large part of the match, falling two goals behind, PAOK found the mental reserve anbd quality to claim victory from the jaws of defeat by beating AEK 3-2 at the OPAP Arena after a stunning comeback.
After a three-week break, PAOK returned to competitive action, with what was a… crazy derby/ It was a game which had it all, and found PAOK celebrating a major twist in the finale, leaving with a big away win.
The game in the first half was quite balanced, with AEK starting strongly but PAOK also trying to press and scoring chances were at a premium.
Piero threatened for the home side in the second minute from a set piece, while both Michailides and Kamara failed to find the target at the other end. Then in the 22nd minute, Kotarski brought down Pineda inside the area as the AEK man sought to go round the visiting ‘keeper, and Mandalos scored from the penalty spot to open the scoring.
The second half started nightmarishly for PAOK. Lamela, with the help of Jonsson, stole possession from Baba just as the PAOK man looked to have stopped a dangerous attack, and with a placed effort into the far corner Lamela was able to make it 2-0 just two minutes into the second period.
PAOK, however, did not give up. With Michailides taking on the role of playmaker with long but accurate passes from the backline, the visitors managed to level the game within 15 minutes.
In the 58th minute, the Greek stopper provided the assist to Konstantelias , who showed sublime control to bring the ball down before skipping past a sprawling Brignoli and slot the ball home into the unguarded net with his third touch to make it 2-1.
In the 64th minute, Chalov missed a great opportunity to equalize, only for Andrija Zivkovic to provide the solution from another long pass from the defensive area and equalize in the 67th minute. And it was Michailides who was the provider of another excellent ball in behind the home defence for the Serb, who showed a good turn of pace and a smart low finish to outwit Brignoli and make it 2-2.
The momentum had now clearly turned to Razvan Lucescu’s side and this translated into a winning goal in the 88th minute. And it was another impressive strike. Chalov produced an outrageous piece of skill to control the ball on the turn with a cheeky backheel flick before surging forward and releasing Pelkas , who produced a flawless finish to make it 3-2 to the visitors.
Team lineups:
AEK: Brignoli, Gacinovic (81′ Pelios), Mukudi, Vida, Rota (69′ Odubajo), Jonsson (69′ Szymanski), Ljubisic (78′ Eliasson), Mandalos, Lamela, Pineda (78′ Koita), Piero.
PAOK: Kotarski, Kedziora (73′ Sastre), Baba, Michailides, Wieteska, Schwab (59′ Despodov), Ozdoev, Kamara, Konstantelias (84′ Pelkas), A. Zivkovic, Samatta (59′ Chalov).
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