His own comment on the Toumba derby that saw PAOK beat AEK 2-0 was made by Demis Nikolaidis on NOVA’s Monday FC show.
He claimed that the image of PAOK was probably not accidental, since probably Razvan Lucescu that he had planned for his team to take the lead and then wait on the field, looking for another final to find a second goal. At the same time, he said that AEK was better, had the opportunities but did not take advantage of them, being careless defensively especially in the 2-0 phase by Koulierakis!
“PAOK was not better than AEK, they were lucky to score two goals, their finals were few. The smart coach he has also plays a role. Of course, from the moment he scores a goal, the tactics change. AEK found opportunities and I also see that PAOK in the last 10 minutes, as in Asteras, accepted phases. He could concede a goal in the 85th minute and be in danger again. AEK was no worse than PAOK. He forced AEK’s assets not to be seen, PAOK was lucky that there was no AEK player to do a proper individual action. PAOK had the right markings.
AEK had several finals and was not careful in defense, especially talking about the second goal. Maybe Athanasiadis is responsible for the second goal, not for the first because he stepped on his right foot and went to fall to the other side. He came out he didn’t come out, he could make the exit. The second goal was decisive. AEK made a mistake in marking, they played what they usually play. If AEK in a derby in Toumba has made so many phases, they could score a goal, you don’t call it bad. Do you remember PAOK’s chances? I don’t… There is also a goalkeeper who played correctly (Sr. Kotarski), of course.
There is once again in the final minutes a gap. It was not so much a lack of concentration but mainly AEK’s ability to press at the end. Lucescu’s plan succeeded, as he scored. I don’t know if he was interested in playing better than AEK, if the score was 1-0 then he would play closed and try to hit on the counter attack. He changed his style, in relation to the match in Philadelphia. Both teams played a lot with big balls, as if they were afraid of the passing game. I think that the image of PAOK was studied due to the presence of Loucheskou, he was also lucky because he scored two goals in four finals. We were none the wiser, that’s what we expected to see from both teams. AEK didn’t have some players on a good day, maybe some changes should have been made earlier, but Almeida knows better.”
The text is updated…
Source: Sport Fm
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