Panathinaikos: Don’t concede (again) the first goal in a derby!

To put an end to a bad habit that he has acquired this season, he will try Panathinaikosstarting with the away derby with AEK at the OPAP Arena for the 1st matchday of its playoffs Stoiximan Super League.

The “greens” finished in 1st place in the regular season and the only goal of Ivan Jovanovic’s players is to continue to be there and in the end to be the first to cut the… thread, celebrating winning the championship after 13 years! But in order to achieve that, they will have to “correct” a suspension blunder in the big games that has followed them since the start of this season.

In particular, in most of the derbies that Panathinaikos has competed in this year, they are the first behind in the score and are forced to “chase” the opponent, in order to initially bring the game into balance and then seek a complete reversal. This statistic started in the first big game of the season for the “clover” against the AEKwhen Pineda had “opened” the score in the Athenian derby but the “clover” had won 2-1, after the accurate penalty kicks of Aitor and Sporar in the last minutes of the first half.

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Reflexively, even though he was behind in the score, he also pointed to Toumba against PAOK for the 6th matchday of the championship. At that time, the “black and white” had transformed into goals their superiority in the first half with Nelson Oliveira in the 18th minute, however, Panathinaikos improved in the second half and took the victory, with Aitor scoring two goals and continuing their absolute victories that his team had built.

He also conceded the first goal in his first loss of points this season. In the “eternal” indoor derby against OlympicPep Biel had put the “red and whites” in front in the 84th minute after an assist from El Arabi, in a game that Panathinaikos got the point of a tie after Andraz Sporar’s penalty in the third minute of stoppage time.

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Panathinaikos suffered its first defeat at the OPAP Arena against AEK. In a game without many phases for the two teams, Orbelin Pineda took advantage of the inertia of the “green” defense and in the 68th minute scored the only goal of the match and his second goal, against the league leader.

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Defeat by conceding the first goal and in “Apostolos Nikolaidis” Panathinaikos met from PAOK for the 19th matchday with 3-0. A few minutes before the end of the first half, Constantelias took the shot with Brignoli pushing away and Ruben Perez unwittingly sending the ball into his team’s net. Ivan Jovanovic’s side were greatly affected by that goal as it appeared, as they failed to look threatening at any point in the match in the second half.

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Finally, a winner, although he conceded the first goal, he also left in the second game he gave in Thessaloniki, against Aris for the 22nd game of the championship. Odubajo may have put the “yellows” in front, but Panathinaikos, realizing the importance of the match, reacted, equalized with Mancini in the 36th minute and four minutes before the end of the 90th minute, took the valuable three points with a goal by Palacios.

Only in the home victory over Aris with 1-0 and the “white” draw against Olympiakos (0-0) did the “greens” not concede the first goal, with the tally in these six games being three wins, two losses and a tie.

Granted, credit is given to the reaction and character shown by the “greens” in several of these games, however, in derbies that will be judged on details and capable of determining first place, such a condition only creates problems for Panathinaikos. It is necessary to put an end to it, greatly increasing his chances of winning the first championship after 13 years of “no rain”!

Edited by: Christos Lois