It was OFI who initially started well, having had two shots in the first few minutes, but those efforts were hanfled easily by Kotarski . PAOK were slow to find their rhythm, but from the 15th minute they seemed to change gears and started to threaten.

Murg fired a warning free-kick shot just wide of Bowman’s goal, before Despodov threatened in the 21st minute after a great team effort, with Vouros stopping the ball illegally with his hand which resulted in a penalty. Bowman denied Schwab from the spot, however, keeping it at 0-0.

Samatta then missed a good chance with a header in the 25th minute, before the 39th minute brought the breakthrough. Baba sent over an excellent cross, and Despodov beat everyone in the air to score and make it 1-0 to the hosts.

Two minutes later the roles were reversed. With a great piece of team play, PAOK’s players exchanged a long string of passes before Despodov squared the ball to Baba who made it 2-0.

In the 45th minute Bowman saved a Despodov shot, while a minute later Toral fouled Samatta with a high boot in the face, and match referee Tsetsilas pointed to the penalty spot. However, once again Bowman guessed correctly again and saved Samatta’s spot-kick, keeping the score at 2- 0 at the end of the first half.

In the second half, the pace of the match dropped noticeably, but PAOK remained in control, albet without creating many clear-cut chances, while OFI had some efforts on goal that Kotarski dealt with comfortably. The Double-headed Eagle then hit the post through Despodov in the 86th minute after a pass from Baba , but the Bulgarian winger didn’t stop there. In the 89th minute, he served up a ready-made goal to Marcos Antonio, with the Brazilian scoring his first goal in a black and white shirt. Then, in the 92nd minute, he handed out another assist to Brandon Thomas , who scored with a fine effort to make the final result 4-0 to PAOK.

That meant that Razvan Lucescu’s side started 2024 with three valuable points, picking up from where they left off at the end of 2023.

Team lineups:

PAOK (Lucescu): Kotarski, Sastre, Ekong, Michailidis, Baba, Tsingaras (Ozdoev 66′), Schwab (Meite 76′), Despodov, Konstantelias (Taison 66′), Murg (Marcos Antonio 86′), Samatta (Brandon 76).

OFI (Mel): Bowman, Larson, Vouros, Lambropoulos, Abada, Meyado, Toral, Bakics (Mosquera 62′), Riera (Torarinsson 62′), Neira (Diko 74′), Luis Felipe.