Ferreira: “We did not play well in attack”
 

Following the dramatic loss to Olympiacos at home, PAOK manager Abel Ferreira admitted that it wasn’t a good attacking performance, while Pedro Martins was delighted.

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In a scrappy contest, it was Olympiacos who emerged victorious at the Toumba Stadium, as Dimitris Giannoulis inadvertently turned Lazar Randjelovic’s attempt beyond Alexandros Paschalakis at the start of the second half. Moments later, Fernando Varela thought that he had immediately equalised for PAOK, but the goal was disallowed for offside after a video assistant referee review. Olympiacos now boast a commanding five-point lead over PAOK in first place of the Super League.

“I can’t lie, we didn’t play well in attack,” admitted Ferreira. “We did not manage to put enough pressure on the Olympiacos defence. The opponents felt comfortable, and they scored a goal which could have been easily avoided. I would also like to see the replay of the goal which was disallowed. In the second half, we put Dimitris Limnios on the opposite flank, but nothing worked. We didn’t deserve to lose, Olympiacos were lucky in their own way, but this is football.”

“I think that we will be ready for the playoffs when they begin,” continued the PAOK boss. “It will be a battle until the end. Today, Olympiacos were more effective.”

“Although this is a very important victory, the title isn’t over,” stated Pedro Martins. “We will play a lot of games against strong opponents. This was not a final, but it was an important win. We used this system in previous matches against Tottenham Hotspur and Bayern Munich. We have a lot of systems which we can use, and we had to take into account that the game with Arsenal took a lot of our energy both physically and mentally. Konstantinos Tsimikas? He has consistently been performing at a high level, he proved that he has a winning mentality. We played with great concentration and focus.”

“We are Olympiacos and we play all over Greece as Olympiacos,” said Konstantinos Tsimikas. “The banners inside the arena? I would like to dedicate our victory to the people who created them.”

Olympiacos teammate, Andreas Bouchalakis, felt it was job done in Thessaloniki: “We came here to win and stay on top, and we did it. In truth, PAOK didn’t apply a lot of pressure on us. Nevertheless, despite the five-point gap, the league still continues. Now, we’re looking forward to the match against Arsenal, we want to achieve something positive as a team in London.”

“Details decide the outcome of derbies,” said PAOK goalkeeper, Alexandros Paschalakis. “We had possession, swung the ball about, but contrived to concede an own goal. Personally, I thought that the ball went out of play, however it was difficult to tell at the time. We controlled the match. In order to achieve what we did last year again, we need to have patience. I feel as though the championship is just starting now.”

PAOK defender Sverrir Ingi Ingason is focusing on upcoming games in the Super League: “Of course, the biggest weakness was that we didn’t score a goal. We created opportunities which were missed, whereas Olympiacos scored. Right now, immediately after the match has ended, it’s tough to speak because of our emotions. We have to beat Xanthi in our next game so that we’re fully prepared for the playoffs. Nothing has been decided in the title race.”

by Shaun Nicolaides

Image Source: sport-fm.gr

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