Pregame
Kick Off
Half Time
Goals
Penalty
Substitution
Corners
Offside
Opportunity
Barshot
Comment
Yellow Card
Second Yellow Card
Red card
Missed Penalty
A five-goal comeback and we're off to the quarter-finals
Passion, heart, soul, faith, a perfect plan, and in the finale an outburst of jubilation. PAOK had their backs against the wall. But this club has learned to to things the hard way. Razvan Lucescu’s Double-headed Eagle side produced an incredible performance pulled off an epic comeback to secure a well-deserved place in the quarter-finals of the UEFA Europa Conference League 2023-24, beating Dinamo Zagreb 5-1 at a raucous Toumba Stadium.
Having a passionate Toumba by their side, PAOK entered the pitch to contest a game that seemed like a matter of life and death. By the time the final whistle sounded, it prompted a wild party in the stands and on the pitch.
The first 45 minutes was a monologue in black and white as the hosts set about trying to overturn the 2-0 deficit from the first leg. The first threat came in the seventh minute. Konstantelias set up Brandon , but under pressure from a defender, the Spaniard sent his effort wide.
In the 15th minute, Nevistic made a great save from Koulierakis’ header. Then in the 19th minute, it was A.Zivkovic’s turn to try his luck, but his shot from a good position also went wide.
In the 27th minute came the first blow. Zile executed a corner, Koulierakis headed the ball on for Baba who headed the ball home to make it 1-0 to signal the start of a potential upset.
The goal lifted the players’ confidence further and they continued to push forward, laying siege almost to the Dinamo goal, and six minutes later it was 2-0. Koulierakis who stayed forward, found some space and tried a shot from long range, with the ball taking a deflection and ending up in the net.
Kotarski had to wait 37 minutes, but he was there to perform his first major intervention of the night. The Croatian saved two impressive shots from Petkovic. The first half then ended in dream-like fashion with Brandon making it it 3-0 with a superb header from Taison’s cross, a goal which had PAOK on their way to the last eight.
After the joy of the first 45 minutes, the second half started in the worst possible way. In their first threatening moment in the second half, Dinamo Zagreb made it 3-1 via Hoxha in the 49th minute, and that goal turned the match into somewhat of a… rodeo.
PAOK kept their composure, but the visitors increased their pressure and managed to create two good chances in the 56th and 64th minute. However, Kotarski was equal to both opportunities and made two big saves from Susic and Hoxha to keep the home side on top.
At that point, the PAOK players managed to flip the switch again and unleashed all their passion. In the 73th minute, the Double-headed Eagle got themselves ahead again with Koulierakis bundling the ball home with his chest following Despodov’s corner-kick.
The Toumba then seemed to catch fire. The noise levels were at relentless levels, and all that remained was to find the player who would write the epilogue. And so, in the 88th minute, Samatta produced a wonderful ball for Despodov , who was brought down inside the penalty area, and A.Zivkovic stepped up from 12 yards to make the final score 5-1.
That saw PAOK celebrate another superb qualification and they now wait for Friday’s draw to discover their next opponents in the quarter-finals.
Team lineups:
PAOK: Kotarski, Baba, Koulierakis, Kedziora, Vieirinha (Jonny 77′), Schwab (Ozdoev 82′), Meite, Taison (Despodov 67′), Konstantelias (Murg 77′), A. Zivkovic, Brandon (Samatta 77′) .
Dinamo Zagreb: Nevistic, Ristovski, Perkovic (Ogiara 80′), Bernauer Teofil-Katrin, Misic, Sucic, Baturina, Spikic (Kaneko 74′), Hoxha (Vidovic 80′), Petkovic.
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