Pregame
Kick Off
Half Time
Goals
Penalty
Substitution
Corners
Offside
Opportunity
Barshot
Comment
Yellow Card
Second Yellow Card
Red card
Missed Penalty
Mission accomplished
As Razvan Lucescu had said beforehand, the only demand he had of his players for the game in Gibraltar was to get three points, at any cost. In the end, PAOK achieved their goal, prevailing 2-0 against Lincoln in their Matchday 1 group stage clash in the UEFA Europa Conference League.
The game itself was complicated and definitely a difficult one. The synthetic pitch and conditions in Gibraltar did not resemble a typical European game, and our rookie opposition was full of excessive enthusiasm. PAOK, however, managed to steer clear of any traps they found in front of them.
The collective mind of the team remained focused, the bodies endured, and a serious and solid Double-headed Eagle side got the three points, which is extremely important in the group standings and the battle for the top spot.
Razvan Lucescu made several changes in comparison to the match against PAS Giannina last Sunday. Paschalakis started between the posts, Sidcley played on the left wing instead of Vieirinha , Mihaj came in the central defence instead of Varelas, while Kurtic and Esiti were tasked with the central midfield roles. In the attack Akpom and Mitrita were give the job of unlocking the home side’s defence.
From the kick-off, PAOK initially took some time to adapt to the synthetic pitch and find their footing. Biseswar, Mitrita and Akpom each got a sight of goal early on, but none of them managed to convert. The English forward was denied by a great save from the opposing goalkeeper in a one-on-one situation the 16th minute.
The hosts did not try to park the bus and wanted to play their football, but Paschalakis had the answers to their threatening moments in the final quarter of the first half, before Akpom finally managed to do in the second minute of added time what he had failed to do earlier – score.
Lucas Taylor skipped past whoever he found in his way on a mazy run down the right and sent over a low cross which the arriving AK47 tapped home for his first goal since his return to the club to make it 1-0 to PAOK at half-time
In the second half, PAOK aimed to try and find a quick goal to lock up the victory. Akpom scored again but his goal was wrongly chalked off as offside, but in the end Mitrita was the man who provided the solution.
After a corner by Murg , Michailidis flicked on a header, the ball cannoned off the crossbar, and Mitrita was there from close range to steer the ball home from teh rebound to make it 2-0.
The hosts did have some good moments, but each time when needed Paschalakis was there to block them out, while in the very last phase of the match Lincoln hit the crossbar with a powerful shot from distance.
The final whistle saw PAOK celebrate an important three-pointer start to their European group stage campaign – a result which saw the Double-headed Eagle climb to the top of the standings, along with FC Copenhagen who defeated Slovan Bratislava 3-1 in the other game.
Team lineups:
Lincoln (Mike McElway): Soler, Wiseman, R. Chipolina, Bernardo Lopez, Tuscano, Torilla (67′ J. Chipolina), Rosa, Anon (62′ Ronan), Araiza (81′ Peacock), Carralero (80′ Sergeant), Kike Gomez (62′ Ocran).
PAOK (Razvan Lutsescu): Paschalakis, Taylor, Crespo (44′ Michailidis), Mihaj, Sidcley, Esiti, Kurtic, Murg (83′ Vieirinha), Mitrita (73′ Konstantelias), Biseswar (73′ Swiderski), Akpom (82′ Koutsias).
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