Ferreira: “The away team only came here to defend”
After drawing 2-2 against Aris at home in the Super League, PAOK boss Abel Ferreira expressed his annoyance with the result, while Apostolos Terzis praised his players.
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Aris took the lead inside four minutes through Brown Ideye at point blank range, but just 120 seconds later, Leo Matos thumped a header into the net for the equaliser. In the second half, both Matos and Lucas Sasha were shown red cards, and Aris looked as though they would secure a famous win when Javier Matilla caught Alexandros Paschalakis cold. However, in the final moments of stoppage time, Josip Misic thumped a volley in to salvage a Derby of Macedonia point for the reigning Greek champions.
“Based on the two teams’ performances, PAOK were the team more deserving of winning,” bemoaned Ferreira. “With all due respect to the away team, they only came here to defend and gain points because of our mistakes. There were a lot of fouls and cards. I know that our fans really wanted to win, we trained well during the week, but sadly we only tallied one point. Aris didn’t need a lot of chances to score, but we needed 17 of them just to get two goals.”
“The mistakes in defence? I am to blame!” continued the Portuguese manager. “I take all responsibility. There was a lack of concentration. I accept the criticism of our defence today, but we still had enough chances to score more goals than two. Our job is to analyse our mistakes and move on.”
Aris interim manager Apostolos Terzis praised his players for their defiant display: “I would like to say well done to my players for their passion,” said Terzis. “We stuck to our game plan throughout the entire match. We were disciplined. The possibility of remaining Aris manager. After the game against Volos, I spoke with the president and Angelos Charisteas, and I was informed that I would take charge of the team for the games with Panathinaikos and PAOK. They are searching for a head coach. We are disappointed with this draw after conceding in the last minute of play.”
PAOK goalscorer Leo Matos is now focused on the upcoming match against AEK in Athens next week: “Yes, this is not a good result for PAOK, but we now have to focus on the game with AEK. I thought that we played well, despite only taking one point from this match. All of us tried hard. There is a long way to go in the championship and we will continue moving forward.”
Nigerian forward Brown Ideye, scorer of the first Aris goal at the Kleanthis Vikelidis Stadium, also felt disappointed with the result: “I feel down because we were 30 seconds away from a great victory. However, we now have to look ahead to the next game and get the three points there. I felt as though we had the chance to emerge victorious.”
Aris Sporting Director Angelos Charisteas revealed that he wants Terzis to become the permanent head coach: “I want Terzis to be the manager, and the players want the same thing. We will hold a meeting tomorrow in which everything will be decided. He has coached the team superbly in these two very difficult matches against Panathinaikos and PAOK. In the end, we’re sad with only taking a point, but a draw at the Toumba Stadium is still a positive result.”
