Pregame
Kick Off
Half Time
Goals
Penalty
Substitution
Corners
Offside
Opportunity
Barshot
Comment
Yellow Card
Second Yellow Card
Red card
Missed Penalty
Wayward and off colour
In a game where PAOK actually had more goalscoring opportunities, the hosts paid for their failure to convert, as well as their inertia in defense and suffered a 4-1 home defeat by Olympiacos at Toumba Stadium.
Both teams struggled to break down the respective defensive lines, and chances were few and far between for most of the first half. Murg threatened in the sixth minute, but his shot went wide of Paschalakis‘ post, while shortly afterwards Navarro had an effort blocked by Kotarski.
In the 29th minute Navarro was the man who opened the scoring in the match. Olympiacos quickly executed a set piece, Chiquinho shot and Kotarski saved, but the Spanish forward was there on the rebound quickest to beat the home keeper and make it 1-0 to the visitors.
PAOK’s response was immediate. The home side picked up the pace, increased the pressure, and in the 39th minute equalized. Konstantelias won possession deep in his own half, before sending an excellent long pass straight into the path of Murg , who tried to control it under pressure from Ortega. The ball fell kindly for Despondov who slammed the ball home with a firm, right-footed effort to make it 1-1.
In the 45th minute, the Double-headed Eagle missed a great opportunity to go ahead with Murg placing a shot wide from a good position inside the penalty area, and the teams went into the dressing rooms at 1-1 at half-time.
The second half started in the worst possible way for PAOK. Podence made it 2-1 in the 54th minute with a long range strike. Then, the hosts took the initiative and started to threaten for the equaliser.
In the 60th minute, Despondov missed a great chance when clean through against Paschalakis, but his effort did not find the target. In the 70th minute it was Brandon’s turn to threaten, but the ball was blocked and went for a corner. A minute later Ozdoev headed towards goal only to see his effort saved by Paschalakis.
And as PAOK missed chance after chance, Olympiacos managed to find a third goal when Podence crossed for El Kaabi in the penalty area and he made it 3-1.
The hosts didn’t give up as they tried to fight back, but another opportunity was missed with Despondov the guilty party in the 84th minute. The Bulgarian was again one-on-one with former PAOK goalkeeper Paschalakis, but he could convert the chance. Afterwards Olympiacos found a fourth goal on the counter-attack with El Kaabi scoring on the rebound after Kotarski had saved Pondence’s shot.
The only positive that the team can take tonight’s game is the reaction from the supporters in the Toumba, who despite the heavy defeat, applauded Razvan Lucescu’s players and gave the players the encouragement that they will need to secure qualification in the Betsson Greek Cup on Wednesday (21.02) at «Leoforos».
Team lineups:
PAOK: Kotarski, Baba, Koulierakis, Kedziora, Sastre (Otto 72′), Ozdoev, Meite (Schwab 72′), Konstantelias (Tzimas 86′), Murg (A.Zivkovic 61′), Despodov, Samatta (Brandon 61′) .
Olympiacos: Paschalakis, Ortega, Horta (Iborra 79′), Chiquinho, Fortounis (Masouras 76′), Carmo, Rodinei, Navarro (El Kaabi 76′), Hezze, Biancone, Pondence. (Retsos 87′).
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