PAOK return to their winning ways
The “Double-Headed Eagle” prevailed 2-1 over Panetolikos in Toumba Stadium for matchday 10 of Super League Souroti. The scoreline doesn’t tell the whole story, as PAOK were superior and wasted many opportunities for a larger win.
After the off night in Budapest and loss to Vidi, PAOK were eager to recover their winning ways and they did just that against feisty Panetolikos.
The “Double-Headed Eagle” players displayed strength of character and brought out their quality on the pitch. They totally dominated proceedings, created many chances to beat Kyriakidis and earned the desired three-points.
The visitors were defense-minded and retreated to their half from moment one. Their main objective was to hold fort against the constant attacks of Răzvan Lucescu’s troops who staged a siege around Panetolikos’s box.
Stelios Kitsiou, Dimitris Pelkas and Aleksandar Prijović fired the first warning shots. Pelkas came the closest to an opener, but Kyriakidis denied his header in the 16th minute.
In the 28th minute, Diego Biseswar initiated the counter attack, fed Pelkas whose header flew wide. Until the end of the first half, PAOK had three more chances with Yevhen Shakhov. In the 44th minute, the Ukrainian midfielder was stopped by Kyriakidis.
After the interval, PAOK were determined to finish off the encounter as soon as possible. Biseswar wasted a huge chance in the 50th minute. Thirteen minutes later, the “Double-Headed Eagle” broke the deadlock.
Dimitris Limnios crossed from the right and Marinakis beat his own goalkeeper, in an attempt to prevent Prijović from connecting the header.
Three minutes later, PAOK struck again. The ball landed at the feet of Shakhov after a corner kick and the Ukrainian unleashed a belter, that was denied both by Kyriakidis and the woodwork. Chuba Akpom was lurking in the box though. He collected the rebound and netted his first goal for the “Double-Headed Eagle”.
When everything suggested that the encounter was practically over, Panetolikos reduced distances with Kamara in the 71st minute and got back in the game.
Lucescu’s players kept the Agrinio side at bay for the remainder of the match and sealed their 2-1 victory. They are back at the top, ahead of Atromitos who defeated AEK 2-0 in the Olympic Stadium.
Line-ups:
PΑΟΚ: Paschalakis, Kitsiou (84’ Khacheridi), Varela, Crespo, Toșca, Cañas, Shakhov (72’ Maurício), Limnios, Pelkas , Biseswar (57’ Akpom), Prijović.
Panetolikos: Kyriakidis, Marinakis, Malis, Arghus (85’ Liavas), Tsokanis, Díaz, Lucero, Maná (74’ Rocha), Mazurek, Willyan, Kamara.
