Impressive PAOK “swallowed” Hajduk in Toumba and qualified for the Conference League playoffs. Razvan Lucescu’s team beat the Croatians 3-0 with Schwab scoring a penalty in the 12th minute and Živkovic scoring two goals and waiting for Rosenborg or Hearts in the last step before the groups.
Stormy from the 70′ onwards, the “two-headed man of the north” closed all the lanes for the guests, exerting a suffocating pressure from which both of Zivkovic’s goals came. A great performance by Konstantinos Koulierakis, who in the first half, put a “stop” in at least three dangerous moments of Hajduk, while he almost scored in the 21st minute when he hit the crossbar with a close-range shot.
In the mind of the coaches
The classic 4-2-3-1 Razvan Lucescu chose for him PAOK. Kotarski in goal, with Ketziora, Ekong, Koulierakis and Baba in defense. In the axis, Schwab with Tsigara and Constantelia in front of them in a free role, while the two extremes behind Samata, were Narey and Zivkovic.
For her Hajduk The Ivan Leko made a change. Lucic in goal, with Moufi, Sarlia, Diallo and Melniak at the back. Krovinovic with Sigur in midfield, Sahiti on the right, Mlakar on the left and Ofoe behind the only promoted Marko Livaja.
The match
The game started with PAOK giving spaces to Hajduk and the Croats to try to exploit them. In fact, Leko’s team lost their first good moment in 3′ with Mlakar receiving the ball and shooting, but Koulierakis’ saving tackle sent the ball over for a corner. Since the execution of Ofoe, o Livaya he headed and the ball went just wide.
The visitors continued to press and in the 8th minute they missed another good chance. Kotarski made a bad pass, the ball reached Ofoe, who immediately passed it to Livaya, but again Koulierakis saved PAOK with a tackle.
The response of the “bi-head of the north” was immediate and substantial. Konstantelias in the 11th minute with an extraordinary action “stunned” Ofoe who overthrew him in the area with the referee awarding a penalty.
The execution was undertaken by Schwab, who, unlike the match against Beitar, hit the target to make it 1-0 and set Toumba on fire.
From that point onwards, PAOK picked up the pace and in the 21st minute missed a huge opportunity to make it 2-0. Živković took the corner, o Koulierakis he made the move to the first post, crossed and sent the ball to the post.
The minutes ticked by with possession shared and Hajduk taking steps to press harder and equalize. In the 32′ Livaja took the ball, “stepped” it to Krovinovic, he crossed, Mlakar headed but the ball went wide.
From his great appearance Koulierakis, PAOK almost got “hurt” in the 40th minute. Mlakar made the cross and the young stopper, in his attempt to chase it away, sent a shot off the right post of Kotarski, giving away a corner.
Just before half-time Hajduk registered another final with Krovinovic benefiting from a counter-attack following a free-kick, but Kotarski blocked the Croatian midfielder’s shot, with Stegemann sending both teams to the dressing room.
In the second half, PAOK tried to approach the match in a different way with the aim of clearing the qualification. The first good moment for the hosts came in the 52nd minute with Samata making a beautiful effort. The Tanzanian found him Zivkovic he took measures, he saw him Constantiahe took a shot but sent it over Lucic.
PAOK’s pressure continued and in the 58th minute, Constantelias found Samata, but the Tanzanian’s place was bad, ending up out.
From 70′ and then PAOK continued to press unabated and even though they lost in the 73rd minute Felipe Soares he found the way to the net twice more.
In the 79th Brandon Thomas he chased a lost phase pressing Diallo, stole the ball and passed it to Živkovic who beat Lucic with a spot kick making it 2-0!
With Toumba “boiling” and the 2-0 PAOK did not slow down in his favor and in the 85th minute, the icing on the cake was added. Schwab won a foul outside the area, with Zivkovic to take over the execution of the ball to counter and change course ending up in the net!
Seconds before the end o Kotarsky made the intervention of the match when Livaya, took the ball, passed two PAOK players, shot with a low shot, but the PAOK goalkeeper kicked it out for a corner, keeping the score 3-0 in the end.
MVP: Andrija Zivkovic may have been the man who cleared the qualification by scoring two goals in the match, but the presence of Konstantinou Koulierakis was a leader! The young stopper of PAOK was decisive in the first half with two key interventions in Livaya’s place, while he also had a post in the 21st minute. On the plus side, PAOK’s defense took over the “construction” of the game, getting a good grade in this area as well.
The elevens:
PAOK: Kotarski, Baba, Koulierakis, Ekong, Kenziora, Tsingaras (Filipe 61′, Ozdoev 73′), Schwab, Constantelias, Andria, Narey (Tyson 61′), Samata (Brandon 78′)
Hajduk: Lucic, Melniak, Diallo, Sarlia, Moufi (Mikanovic 82′), Sigur, Krovinovic (Burnacho 58′), Sahiti (Dolcek 58′), Ofoe (Cvic 82′), Mlakar (Dazaku 73′), Livaya.
Watch the match live from sport-fm.gr
Source: Sport Fm
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