Greens overpower Volos ahead of playoffs
 

SUPER LEAGUE - MATCHDAY 26

Panathinaikos comfortably dispatched Volos 4-1 at the Olympic Stadium in Athens on Sunday in their final match of the regular season, with Giorgos Donis’ side looking in good shape ahead of the playoffs.

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Dominik Nagy opened the scoring early on for Panathinaikos after just three minutes, and Italian striker Federico Macheda headed in a second on the stroke of half-time to put the Greens in firm control. 

Erik Jendrisek pulled a goal back with an unstoppable shot after 53 minutes, but Panathinaikos never looked in danger of conceding a second against a disappointing Volos side, who could not cope with the home side’s superior quality throughout the team.

The victory then turned into a rout for the Trifylli as further goals were added from Macheda and Tasos Chatzigiovanis after 68 and 76 minutes respectively to wrap up an excellent performance from the hosts.

THE MATCH

Having already locked up fourth place and a spot in the playoffs, the Greens headed into their final match of the regular season simply attempting to fine tune their play against a Volos side who have been in freefall in the second half of the season.

It’s been a solid second half of the campaign for Giorgos Donis’ team, while Volos knew that they would be headed for the relegation and promotion playouts regardless of how they fared against the Trifylli.

Having sacked head coach Alberto Gallego during the week, Gallego’s assistant Stefanos Xirofotos was in the Volos dugout to guide the team.

And the visitors got off to the worst possible start after just three minutes as Panathinaikos began brightly and got an early breakthrough.

Giannis Bouzoukis was the architect, threading a slick pass through for Nagy, who surged into the left side of the penalty area before applying a clinical side-footed finish past Thanasis Garavelis in the Volos goal.

Panathinaikos controlled virtually all of the first half play, with the visitors stuck in their own half for long spells, and it came as no surprise when the Greens doubled their advantage one minute into added time.

This time it came from a corner which was delivered by Bouzoukis, with Bart Schenkefeld flicking the ball on for Macheda to head home.

Panathinaikos had the ball in the net again in the 50th minute,but Schenkefeld’s backheel finish was ruled out for an offside at the start of the move from Dimitris Kourbelis following a VAR review.

Things got interesting shortly after that when Volos pulled a goal back in the 53rd minute, with Joao robbing Matias Johanson of possession before slipping a pass to Jendrisek, who scored with a powerful finish which left Vasilis Xeonopoulos in the Greens’ goal with no chance.

Any remote hopes of a Volos comeback were extinguished in the 68th minute when Macheda added a third goal with a measured finish from the edge of the penalty area, before Chatzigiovanis finished clinically with 14 minutes left when sent clean through on goal.

STARTING LINEUPS

Panathinaikos: 15 Xenopoulos (Gk), 2 Johansson, 5 Schenkeveld, 9 Macheda, 11 Chatzigiovanis, 18 Bouzoukis, 21 Kourbelis, 22 Nagy, 26 Tuhami, 44 Pougouras, 47 Zagaritis

Volos: 1 Garavelis (Gk), 33 Dimopoulos, 4 Cadamuro, 3 Ferrari, 2 Dedakis, 5 Max Augusto, 8 Muniz, 22 Lyratzis, 10 Guarrotxena, 23 Joao, 26 Jendrisek

HIGHLIGHTS

by Graham Wood

Image Source: sdna.gr

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