With one huge “double” left the stadium of Toumba o Panathinaikoswho won with 2-1 him PAOKas part of the 5th matchday of the Stoiximan Super League playoffs.
In a match for strong nerves, the “clover” took the lead with the collar of Bernard in the 38′second in the championship, while Augusto had beam five minutes later.
The “doubleheader of the North” drew at 85′by Brazilian means to… atonebut the Ioannidis which had undergone change won a penalty in 88′, with the use of VAR, which he himself converted into goal in the first minute of extra time!
PAOK also won a penalty in the 96th minute, but the decision was corrected again with the use of technology, after Thomasit was offside at the beginning of the phase…
Thus, the… too tough to die Panathinaikos remained at the top of the standings, with 72 points, in the final of the first round of the competition and continues to define his destiny to win the title!
While the hosts remained in fourth place, having collected 60 points, losing ground again for… something more.
In the… minds of the coaches:
Razvan Lucescu “took down” PAOK with a formation 4-2-3-1 and three changes in relation to Volos. With Kotarski in the goalposts, Lyratzi, Ingason, Karga and Rafa Soares in defense. While Dadas and Augusto were the two ‘cutters’, with Zivkovic, Constantelia and Tyson fighting behind the lone promoted Oliveira.
Ivan Jovanovic on the other hand, he lined up Panathinaikos with a system 4-3-3 and… Olympiakos recipe, ie just one change. Brignoli sat in goal, with Sanchez, Senkefeld, Sarlia and Juancar four at the back. Ruben, Tserin and Kourbelis formed the three midfielders on the axis, with Palasios, Sporar and Bernard making up the attacking triplet.
The match:
The game started with a fairly high tempo and the obvious desire of both teams to find a quick goal. With PAOK attacking mainly from the left, while Panathinaikos tried to “hit” with deep balls on the back of the opposing defense.
It was the “double-header of the North” who went close first, in the 3rd minute, when Constantelias crossed from the left to the far post where the oncoming and unmarked Zivkovic tried for the projection but missed the ball…
With the “greens” answering with one huge missed opportunity for 0-1, as in a counterattack Palasios switched sides by passing to Bernard, he took an amazing “one-on-one” shot at Sporar who in a four-four with Kotarski sent the ball just wide, in the 11th minute!
Four minutes later, from Augusto’s turn – and with the ball possibly having passed beyond the end line of the field – Živkovic is again in an advantageous position but Brignoli drove away with an impressive instinctive intervention in the corner!
The pace then dropped, with Panathinaikos still having more ball possession, while Sporar continued to be the main attacking edge of his team and was the one who found himself in two more phases. With Kotarski and Ingason beating him, in the 23′ and 25′ respectively.
The 29th minute phase had the same outcome, as Brignoli came out and promptly deflected Dandas’ clever ball into the back of his defense with the aim of Constantelia. At the time, PAOK could not find corridors towards the opponent’s goal, with the exception of a solo shot by Tyson who entered the area in the 36th minute, but his shot from a position on the inside left was off target.
The visitors finally managed to open the scoring two minutes later when Magnusson’s cross to Juancar was headed into the area, with Sporar controlling and Bernard to “lightning” Kotarski, sending the ball into the net for 0-1!
On the contrary, PAOK saw his long-range shot go wide Augusto to find first at left beam of Brignoli and then ending up out, in the 43′.
The second half started with Panathinaikos coming in strong again, recording with… good morning a great opportunity to double their goals, in the 48th minute. As Palacios passed an awesome slash to Sporar who found himself in front of Kotarski, but he blocked his shot with his foot!
In the 50th minute, Kargas found the ball with his hand, but Zibert and Manouhos apparently they evidently thought they were within striking distance with Sporar and no penalty was awarded, with the “black and white” building tension afterwards, taking possession of the ball and looking for an equaliser.
However, Brignoli blocked Oliveira’s rather weak header in the 54th minute, following Zivkovic’s cross from the right. While the two of them worked together in the very next minute, but Zivkovic’s shot this time ended up in the arms of the Italian goalkeeper.
Jovanovic made a double change before the hour mark, “freshening up” the right side of his team, with the entry of Kocira-Mancini.
PAOK continued to have control but not the way to reach 1-1, as Zivkovic’s finish in the 67th minute was poor and went high. This was also the reason why Lucescu also made a double change, putting Thomas and El Kaduri instead of Oliveira and Soares. Turning Zivkovic to play as a left-back and El Kadouri as a number ten.
All this until the 85th minute, as Senkefeld can’t clear the high-hanging pass in the area to Thomas and Augusto with a free field of vision he places the ball on target, making it 1-1!
With the match leading to a… grand finale, the “clover” saw the Ioannidis to be overthrown clearly by Zivkovic, who stepped on him. Manouhos called Zibert to an on field review and the German referee gave the penalty… The…pathon took over his execution, he hit despite Kotarski’s effort, in the first minute of stoppage time and made it 1-2 at the same time!
The game wasn’t over yet, however, as Zimbert gave away another penalty, this time on a Kleinheisler trip on Augusto, in the sixth minute of overtime. After checking the phase in VAR, it was confirmed that there had been a clear offside and therefore he revoked his decision…
Finally, after… 16 minutes of delays, Panathinaikos got the “three points” from… gold, which kept them at the top of this year’s playoffs!
MVP: Fotis Ioannidis proved to be a game changer in yet another Panathinaikos match! With the 23-year-old striker coming off the bench and winning the penalty that was to decide the winner, from Zivkovic. A penalty, in fact, that he had the… courage to execute himself, with the match being in the 90th minute and on the… razor’s edge, hitting and “sealing” the great victory for his team.
The… whistle: “Full day at work” for Daniel Zibert, who showed us that he too is an elite-level referee… He didn’t show a penalty to Karga in the 48th minute, for a handball, since Manouhos didn’t call him either. On the contrary, even with the use of VAR, the German referee attributed the offense to Zivkovic’s phase with Ioannidis. While both the awarding of a penalty in favor of Augusto was correct, but also its “cancellation”, due to Thomas’ offside at the start of the phase.
The compositions of the two teams:
PAOK (Razvan Lucescu): Kotarski, Lyratzis (46′ Vieirinia), Ingason, Kargas, Rafa Soares (74′ El Kaduri), Dadas (68′ Schwab), Augusto, Zivkovic, Tyson, Constantelias (83′ Bisesvar), Oliveira (73′ Thomas).
Left on the bench: Z. Zivkovits, Koulierakis, Felipe Soares, Murg.
Panathinaikos (Ivan Jovanovic): Brignoli, Sanchez (59′ Kotsiras), Senkefeld, Magnusson, Huancar, Kourbelis, Ruben, Cerin (81′ Kleinheisler), Palacios (59′ Mancini), Sporar (70′ Ioannidis), Bernard (81′ Berbic).
Left on the bench: Lodgin, Pukhach, Chokai, Sarlia.
Referee: Zibert (Germany).
Assistants: Seidel, Foltin (Germany).
Fourth referee: Sidiropoulos (Dodecanese).
VAR: Manouchos (Argolid).
AVAR: Moisiadis (Epirou).
See here the description of the match from the Match Centre
Source: Sport Fm
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.
