Pregame
Kick Off
Half Time
Goals
Penalty
Substitution
Corners
Offside
Opportunity
Barshot
Comment
Yellow Card
Second Yellow Card
Red card
Missed Penalty
Comeback earns three points and top spot
In a mini-league with the top six teams, it is a given that there are no easy games. This was proven on Wednesday night at Toumba Stadium, with PAOK initially struggling, falling behind, but reacting well and turning the game around to get another important three points, against a battling Lamia side by a 3-1 scoreline. The win, combined with Panathinaikos’ 2-1 victory over AEK, saw PAOK return to the top of the standings.
Razvan Lucescu made seven changes to his starting XI compared to the last game against Panathinaikos, with PAOK not starting the game well and having their backs against the wall early on.
Lamia sprang the perfect surprise. The visitors entered the pitch looking stress-free and got themselves in front in the seventh minute with Martinez beating Kotarski to make it 1-0 on a counterattack. In fact, Leonidas Vokolos’ players had another good chance to extend their lead with Martinez not finding the target in the 12th minute, while Tsiloulis scored in the 15th minute, but the ‘goal’ was correctly disallowed for offside and Slivka then headed the ball wide after a corner later.
PAOK tried to impose their tempo after those early shockwaves, but found it difficult to break through the oppositipn backline, while Lamia had another good chance with Lake missing from a good position in the 22nd minute. The Double-headed Eagle had a good moment in the 24th minute with Rafa and Ozdoev failing to convert decent chances on two occasions.
And while everything seemed that PAOK would go in at half-time a goal down, Giannis Michailidis headed in after an assist from Andrija Zivkovic to make it 1-1 to boost the home side’s confidence.
Lucescu made several moves at the start of the second half, throwing Meite, Taison and Baba into the fray and the pattern of the match changed completely. PAOK increased its tempo and began to pepper the away side’s goal.
The hosts created a clutch of chances with Ozdoev, Taison, A.Zivkovic, Samatta and Michailidis all unable to beat Koselev, only for Stefan Schwab to provide the solution. The Austrian beat Koselev with a great shot after another assist from A. Zivkovic to put PAOK into the lead.
Lucescu’s side managed the rest of the game perfectly and sealed the victory in the 87th minute. Samatta broke into the penalty area, was brought down by Kornezos, and Schwab made no mistake from the resulting spot-kick to make it 3-1, while Baba also hit the post in stoppage time.
After Panathinaikos‘ comeback victory over AEK, PAOK moved up to first place in the standings and are now preparing to face the Union at the OPAP Arena on Sunday (04.07) in a clash between first and second.
Team lineups:
PAOK: Kotarski, Rafa (Baba 46′), Michailidis, Kedziora, Vieirinha (Sastre 81′), Ozdoev (Schwab 64′), Tsingaras (Meite 46′), Konstantelias, Despodov (Taison 46′), A.Zivkovic, Samatta.
Lamia: Koselev, Sidclay, Tzanetopoulos, Cornezos, Simon, Zandaris, Nunes (Santana 46′), Martinez (Tosic 87′), Tsiloulis, Slivka (Malci 78′), Tosio (Stanko 78′).ψ
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