Kurtic and in Europe, PAOK for the quarterfinals!

As long as he has it, he is not afraid of anyone! With a hero -who else- him Jasmine KurticThe PAOK prevailed 1-0 welcoming to Toumba the Ghent in the first match between them and took the qualifying lead for his “8” Europa Conference League.

Nervous at the beginning, the “biceps of the North”, who then balanced by taking the reins at intervals. “Gold” scorer for Thessaloniki is Kurtic. The Slovenian midfielder was marked in almost every phase until that moment, something that could not happen in 58 ‘when he scored with a direct foul, to score his first goal in Europe with the PAOK jersey.

In the 20 ‘ no clear penalty was given to the hosts, who will fight in the rematch next Thursday (17/3) without them Kurtic and Andrija Zivkovicwho faced yellow card (was at the limit). Naive reactions in both cases, with the name of the first one entering the block for protest and the second one, because he threw the ball away a few seconds before a change was made!

In the … minds of coaches:

No surprises were presented by PAOK Rasvan Lucescuwho maintained the 4-2-3-1. Under the goal was Paschalakis, with Lyratzis and Vierinias covering both ends of the defense. Ingason and Crespo made up the duo in the stoppers, with Tsigaras and Kurtic in the midfield. Augusto started in a free role in front of them, who had Biseswar on his left and Andrija Zivkovic on his right, while Akpom was the only forward.

On the other hand, o Hein Vanhazenburg chose it 3-4-2-1 for the Belgians, with the star of the team, Tisundali, to start from the bench (he was facing an injury problem in the last days). Ref was in the spotlight, with Hanke-Olsen, Engado and Okumu in the top three. The midfield quartet consisted, from right to left, of Samoa, de Chartres, Coumés and Castro Montes, while Ofoe and Hullsager moved behind Depot.

The match:

The start from PAOK is quite nervous, with its players unable to decongest the pressure of the Belgians and hold the ball. At the same time, Ghent’s intention to close him was clear Kurtic. The Slovenian midfielder has always had a player, coming out of the home game. Nevertheless, the luck for Lucescu’s team was that they were not threatened during this period.

PAOK started to balance after 15 ‘, to reach to create its first finals. In the 19 ‘ his shot August from the height of the large area countered, to pass a corner. In the 20 ‘ the phase that could have changed the data quite early took place. THE Biseswar made the parallel turn from the right, with him Ref to chase before the all-lonely Άκπομ. However, as seen from the replay, the Enganto found the ball by hand before it reached the Ghent goalkeeper, with the penalty -less of VAR- not to be charged.

The next phases belonged to Ghent. In the 24 ‘ The Οφοε took him out with a wonderful vertical in a four-on-four position Hullsagerby Paschalakis to go out and block. In the 30 ‘ the former ace of Olympiacos made a nice dribble, but the Lyratzis put a “stop” on the shot he attempted, with both teams going without a score in the locker room.

The “biceps of the North” entered strongly in the second part. In fact, he missed a unique opportunity at 52 ‘: THE Kurtic -from the few moments that he was left without a player, he made the cross from the right, o Άκπομ – being completely unmarked – he caught a popped head from the “heart” of the area, with the ball leaving next to the right crossbar. In the 53 ‘ correctly canceled as offside the goal scored by Mountsafter a “rebound” he got.

To get to 56 ‘when the hosts won a foul in a position … tamam for his foot Kurtic, at the edge of the semicircle of the large area. The Slovenian midfielder took the responsibility, performing directly, with the ball countering to Koumswith its course changing and ending up in the nets.

Then PAOK found a lot of space. He had the possession, but not the clear opportunities through finals. The same of course applied to the guests, with the 1-0 remaining as it was until the last whistle.

The “whistle”: In the 8th minute, the guests protested for Lyratzis’s hand at the edge of the large area. He found the ball in his elbow, but without his hand being able to make his body unnaturally bigger. On the contrary, the penalty should have been given to PAOK in the 20th minute, with Engando having found the ball during his fall. Thessaloniki “shouted” for a penalty in other cases (32 and 51 ‘), without anything. Ghent’s goal for offside was rightly canceled.

MVP: It is impossible not to discriminate against Kurtic, which determines another game this year for the “biceps of the North”. However, it should be noted that the Lyratzis has made an INCREDIBLE match!

The compositions of the two groups:

PAOK (Rasvan Lucescu): Paschalakis – Lyratzis, Ingasson, Crespo, Vierinia (80 ‘Siddklay) – Tsingaras, Kurtic (80’ Swab) – A. Zivkovic (86 ‘Murg), Augusto, Biseswar (71’ El Kantoumri) – Askolak (86 ‘).

On the bench for the hosts were left: Talichmanidis, Z. Zivkovic, Mihai, Taylor, Mitritsa, Michailidis, Filipe Soares.

Ghent (Hein Vanhazenburg): Ref – Hanke-Olsen, Engado, Okumu (46 ‘Torunariga) – Samoa, De Sart, Koums, Castro Montes – Ofoe, Hülsager (82’ Tisundali) – Depuatr.

On the bench for the guests were left: Bolat, Bore, Operi, Ojusu, Lemajic, Malente, Fortuna, Gondo, Cisse.

Referee: Bartosz Frankowski (Poland)

Assistants: Marcin Boniek (Poland), Jakub Winkler (Poland)

Fourth: Christoph Jakubik (Poland)

Watch the live of the match here.