He cleaned up early and is getting ready for… revenge. THE PAOK without facing any problem, defeated Kalamata 2-0 in Toumba with the same number of goals from the “hot” Brandon Thomas and qualified for the quarterfinals of the Greek Cup where, unexpectedly, he will face him Panathinaikos to an early “final”.
Extended rotation from Razvan Lucescu, which gave playing time to youngsters Andre Ricardo, Stefano Dzima and Erin Selimai, who made their debuts. Great misfortune for the “two-headed man of the north” o Lefteris Lyratzis who was substituted four minutes after entering the match due to a cheekbone injury.
In the mind of the coaches
With extended rotation and 4-2-3-1 lined up PAOK o Razvan Lucescu. Zivko Zivkovic under the posts, Sastre, Kargas, Nasberg and Vieirania in the defensive four. Dadas and Schwab were moving in the axis, with Soares in position “ten”. Biseswar on the left, Narey on the right and Brandon Thomas on the top.
Defensive approach and 3-5-2 by Nikos Anastopoulos for her Kalamata. Mendes in the goalposts with a trio of Assigba, Lupano and Bakayoko at the back. Right back-half Mavinga, left Papatolios while Moser, Karagounis and Benites played in the central trio. In the attack, Arnarellis and Markovski played.
The match
Willing to end the match early was PAOK pushing up Kalamata from the start. In the sixth minute, the “two-headed man of the north” won a foul outside the area, o Vierinia he executed with Mendes leaping and driving away, while five minutes later the scene was repeated with the visitors’ goalkeeper again saying “no” to the PAOK captain.
The home side’s dominance brought the goal a few seconds later, with Khalid Narei in the area from the right and a beautiful assist finding the Thomas who opened the scoring for Lucescu’s team with a spot kick in the move. In fact, with the cross, PAOK reached a second goal. Biseswar took the ball, took a cross to Tomas and he beat Mendes in the tete-a-tete, simplifying the task of the “bicep of the north”.
From that point on, the tempo dropped, which helped Kalamata take steps on the field. In the 24th Markowski fed Arnarelli who sent the ball out with a diagonal shot. In the 32nd minute Lucescu made his first substitution as Felipe Soares was replaced due to injury by Andre Ricardo.
In the 37′ Kalamata came close again to the goal of honor with Benitez making a nice move and stepping into the area, but his shot went wide with 2-0 being the score of the first half.
In the replay, the hosts were not in the mood to step on the gas. In the 49th minute, however, Kargas performed an excellent action, he passed the ball to Narey, but Mendes caught him in the box and sent him away. The two coaches made changes but the pace remained at a low tempo.
In the 56′ the home team moved the ball nicely, Biseshvar was caught unguarded at the height of great persuasion, he crossed smartly but missed. Razvan Lucescu passed Lefteris Lyratzis in the match, but four minutes later the right back of PAOK was unlucky after colliding in the air with Assigba which did not allow him to continue in the match.
Kalamata made its presence felt in Toumba in the 82nd minute when o Moser he took the vertical pass from Tato and went against Živkovic but his shot went wide. A minute later, Tatos threatened the PAOK home again with the Serbian goalkeeper blocking without problem and with 2-0 remaining until the end of the match as nothing of note happened until the final whistle of Katsikogiannis.
MVP: His touch… Midas had Brandon Thomas in the match who scored as many goals in two minutes, simplifying the task for PAOK from the first quarter of the match.
The whistle: A restful evening for the gentleman too Katsikogiannis in Toumba. The referee from Epirus did not have to blow his whistle for long, while he handled the 70th minute phase perfectly when Lyratzis and Assigba collided, immediately interrupting the flow of the match.
The elevens:
PAOK (Rasvan Lucescu 4-2-3-1): Z. Zivkovic, Sastre (63′ Lyratzis, 72′ Selimai), Kargas, Nashberg, Vieirinia, Dadas, Schwab, Bisesvar (72′ Jimas), Filipe Soares (36′ Andre Ricardo), Narey (63′ A. Zivkovic), Thomas.
On the counter: Talichmanidis, Constantelias, Koulierakis, Lyrantzis, Oliveira, Ricardo, Selimai, Tzimas, Zivkovits
Kalamata (Nikos Anastopoulos 3-5-2): Mendes, Bakayoko, Lupano, Assigba, Papatolios, Karagounis, Benites (70′ Konstantinopoulos), Moser (84′ Triantafyllakis), Mavinga, Arnarellis (76 Tatos), Markovski (70′ Vasilogiannis).
On the counter: Karahalios, Tairis, Gotsis, Konstantinopoulos, Rovas, Tatos, Triantafyllakis, Vasilogiannis, Alves
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I am currently a news writer for News Bulletin247 where I mostly cover sports news. I have always been interested in writing and it is something I am very passionate about. In my spare time, I enjoy reading and spending time with my family and friends.
