It was a vital three-point haul, which needed a lot of hard work to grind out. An invincible Kotarski, some freshness from PAOK, and concentration in abundance until the last seconds. The Double-headed Eagle were the one who had to be and took the three points.

The match started with PAOK threatening from the first moments and Shola missing a great opportunity, as he failed to beat Chaves from a wide position.

Panetolikos gradually began to become threatening on counter-attacks and on two ocassions they could have taken the lead. Initially in the 23rd minute, Maidevac missed from the penalty spot, while in the 32nd minute, Kotarski made an unlikely save from close-range when Lajud seemed certain to score.

PAOK then had some shots of their own with Otto, Murg, Kamara and Schwab all unable to find a way to beat Chaves, with the 0-0 score remaining until the half-time break.

The visitors dominated in the second half, but without finding a way to become particularly threatening. Razvan Lucescu threw all his weapons into the battle from the bench, Kotarski was there when called upon, especially in a one-on-one situation against Lajud in the 62nd minute. At the other end, Chaves hand the answer to efforts from Otto and A. Zivkovic, and finally it was Kamara who arrived to provide the solution in the 87th minute.

Zivkovic sent over a corner kick and the PAOK midfielder was perfectly positioned to score with a wonderful header to clinch a hard-fought victory.

Team lineups:

Panetolikos: Chaves, Sielis, Pantelakis, Stajic, Bakakis (63′ Mavrias), Bouzoukis (63′ Luis), Peres, Liavas, Torrejon, Lajud (81′ Belevonis), Maidevac (64′ Lomonaco)

PAOK: Kotarski, Sastre (62′ Baba), Kedziora, Michailides, Otto, Kamara, Schwab (62′ Ozdoev), A. Zivkovic, Murg (46′ Konstantelias), Shoretire (69′ Tissoudali), Chalov (62′ Samatta).