THE Panathinaikos he was late waking up in “Theramica”, as a result of which he lost me 3-2 from the Villarreal in the framework of the 5th matchday for the 6th group of the Europa League and to be mathematically excluded from the continuation of the competition.
the “clover” showed character in the second half, after the corrective moves Ivan Jovanovic had to makecoming within a breath of an epic upset, thanks to the goals of Palasios in the 66th minute and Ioannidis – who came on as a substitute – in the 81st minute.
In the first 45 minutes, of course, his tragic mistakes within five minutes allowed Baena to open the scoring in the 29th minute, with Komesania giving his team a two-goal lead in the 34th minute. To come one more… gift, in the 47th minute and 3-0, from Morales.
Thus, Panathinaikos remained at Third Place of the standings, with 4 points and at +3 with a match more than the trailing Maccabi Haifa, which they face in the last matchday at Leoforo, wanting the win to definitely continue in Europe and the winter, through the Conference League.
While Villarreal remained in second place, having now nine points, but also one game less than the leader Rennes, this one with the Israeli team that will be on December 6.
In the minds of the coaches:
THE Villarreal lined up in formation 4-4-2, Reyna in goal and Foith, Albiol, Cuenca and Moreno four at the back. Parejo and Komesania were the “cutters”, with Acomach-Trigeros fighting on the “wings” and Baena-Morales making up the duo of the attack.
THE Panathinaikos on the other hand, he also “went down” with a system 4-2-3-1with five changes in relation to Aris and Brignoli under the goalposts. Vaiannidis, Senkefeld, Arao and Mladenovic formed the four in defense and Ruben-Cherin the two midfielders in the axis. With Palacios and Aitor at the two ends of the attack and Bernard behind Sporar, who was the only forward.
The match:
Villarreal entered with an obvious desire to press high, with Panathinaikos not being able to keep the ball, but also making some frivolous mistakes.
Gradually, he succeeded and balanced the situation, however, while he was the one who registered the first good chance in the 10th minute. When from a corner, the ball reached outside the area to Ruben, who shot with power, only for Reyna to make a difficult save in his right corner!
The “clover” aimed at the left side of his opponent to attack, with Vaiannidis-Palasios, reaching several times outside the opponent’s area but… so far and at the same time keeping the Spaniards away from his own, thanks to Ruben’s good placements and Cherin.
With Morales’ powerful shot that Brignoli punched away in the 20th minute to be the next remarkable phase of the match. Finally, Villarreal took the lead after nine minutes. As Accomach passed Mladenovic from the right, who did not foul him in time, he “smashed” the ball into Baena who came out … face to face with the outgoing Brignoli and defeated him with dug out placefor 1-0!
Panathinaikos… he demolished within five minutes what he had previously “built”., since with yet another bad overall defense, he conceded a second goal. In 34′, with Morales turning to the outside at Komesanias who brings the ball to the right, shoots and sends it where Brignoli can’t react, making it 2-0 with excellent execution…
With Sporar cut off after not being fed at all and Aitor ‘disappeared’, Ivan Jovanovic’s side failed to muster another phase until the break. At the time the “yellow submarine” had another good moment, with Morales in the 42nd minute and generally completely controlled the game.
One would expect the second half to start with the Panathinaikos players determined to do everything in their power to “get back” into the match.
Instead, in the first instance, Arao made a big mistakesliding out of the area with Baena stealing the ball, passing to Morals who defeated Brignoli in the four-on-four, making it 3-0 in just 47′!
With everything against them, the “greens” tried to get a reaction. They “warned” with Sporar in the 53rd minute, while they saw Aitor score six minutes later but his goal was – correctly – disallowed for offside.
Jovanovic threw Ioannidis and Djuricic into the match with an hour of play left and the image of his team changed for the better, even reaching 3-1…
As even with the use of VAR, Kruzliak attributed Baena’s penalty to Aitor, Ioannidis took over the execution, sent the ball onto the post, but Palasios took the… rebound and with a new effort he reduced, in the 66th minute!
With the momentum in favor of Panathinaikos, Aitor missed the great opportunity to… change history, in the 70th minute. When after Ioannidis’ individual energy and turn, the Spanish winger shot alone from the height of the penalty but high and off target.
Marthelino tried to “refresh” Villarreal and buy some time at the same time, but it was the visitors who found a second goal, in the 81st minute. From the very good ball of Vilena in the area for him Ioannidiswho went to the “back” of the opponent’s defense, stepped into the area and accurately placed Reina, reducing again to 3-2!
As one can easily understand, it followed… rodeo. The Spanish side saw Brignoli make… a triple save, on Moreno, Dias and Pendratha efforts, in the first minute of stoppage time.
With the “clover” “responding”, missing another great opportunity for 3-3, three minutes later. As from Brignoli’s volley, Ioannidis came out quickly on the counterattack but Reina saved for a corner!
While Brignoli said “no” to Morales’ attempt in the 98th minute, keeping the score at 3-2.
MVP: Alex Baena did whatever he wanted today! The Spaniard scored Villarreal’s first goal, paving the way to victory, while he also set up the third goal for Morales, stealing the ball from Arao. In general, it had a “full” look until it was changed.
the “whistle”: On a… bad day referee Kruzliak, as well it took Dankert’s intervention to award the clear penalty against Aitor. The disallowance of the goal scored by the Spanish winger was correct, while in general he should have been stricter in the disciplinary control.
The compositions of the two teams:
Villarreal (Marthelino) : Reina, Foith (78′ Altimira), Albiol (46′ Gambia), Cuenca, Moreno, Acomach, Parejo, Comesania, Trigueros (78′ Pendratha), Baena (68′ Gerard), Morales (68′ Dias).
They stayed on the bench: Gergensen, Capoue, Fermenia, Terracs, Pascual, Espigares.
Panathinaikos (Ivan Jovanovic): Brignoli, Vagiannidis, Senkefeld, Arao, Mladenovic (87′ Huancar), Ruben, Cerin (75′ Vilena), Palacios (87′ Mancini), Bernard (60′ Djuricic), Aitor, Sporar (60′ Ioannidis).
They stayed on the bench: Lodingin, Xenopoulos, Gedvai, Kotsiras.
Referee: Ivan Kruzliak (Slovakia).
Assistants: Jan Pozor, Adam Jackel (Slovakia).
4th referee: Peter Kralovic (Slovakia).
VAR: Bastian Dunkert (Germany).
AVAR: Alper Ulusoy (Turkey).
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.
