Panathinaikos’ 2019 attacking woes in numbers

Panathinaikos have struggled offensively in 2019 after a great start to the 2018/19 campaign. AGONAsport’s Nick Tsambouniaris investigates.

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Giorgos Donis has admitted that his stuttering Panathinaikos side is experiencing issues in the final third in 2019 and this is reinforced by the numbers. The team appears to be a shadow of itself - they have only scored five goals in the second half of the season so far and are in the middle of a tricky three week period with three derbies in succession. More worryingly, those five goals came in 57 minutes and two were scored in the one match against Xanthi at OAKA. After the same amount of fixtures in the first half of the season, Panathinaikos had notched 13 goals from 76 shots. They have now scored eight less goals and had 19 fewer shots.

Poor Away Form

In three away matches in the first half - Larissa, Xanthi, and Asteras Tripolis, the team managed 29 shots. Fast forward to four away matches so far in the second half - Lamia, Levadiakos, Panionios, and PAS Giannina, and the team has only mustered 22 shots (in an extra game).

Lack of Shots

In the first 7 games of the season, the Greens found new ways of scoring and did not rely on any aspect of their game in particular. The team scored several goals that resulted from shots at goal from outside the penalty box (Giannis Bouzoukis scored the winner from distance against Xanthi and Ilias Chatzitheodoridis did the same against Panionios).

After the same amount of games, the Trifylli has only registered 23 shots from outside the box, compared to 39. Opportunities have not been created and you cannot score if you do not shoot.

The team managed 18 shots against PAS Giannina at home in the first half of the season (the most in a single game to date), whereas they only managed four against the same opposition away (the least it has registered to date).

Average shots per game have also drastically dropped to 8.25 and in the most recent match (the 0-2 loss to PAOK) the team only mustered nine shots. Just for comparison, Panathinaikos’ biggest competitor for fifth spot - Aris, is averaging 18 shots since the turn of the year.

Aerial Weakness

Scoring headed goals has proven to be a major weakness for Panathinaikos this season. Even in the first seven matches where the team won six and drew the other, there were no headed goals scored. The squad does not possess a classic target man that is strong in the air that can score headers.

After the opening seven games in both opening halves combined, the Greens only managed two or more headers in seven out of the 14 matches.

Key Players Out of Form

Tasos Chatzigiovannis and Federico Macheda were the team’s two most influential players in the first half of the season, especially in the final third. The former dazzled defenders with his trickery, by playing direct and pinpoint crosses and the latter gave the team a presence up top and acted as an outlet to distribute the ball. He also scored an array of different types of goals. All of this has disappeared in the second half of the season.

Since scoring against Atromitos at OAKA in December, Macheda has only scored once in the turn of the year (a penalty at home in the 1-1 draw with Larissa) and only has a sole assist.

The enthusiasm has disappeared and fatigue has well and truly set in. The same can be said for Giannis Bouzoukis, another key player in the first half of the season. However, it was to be expected given he is only in his first year of playing at a senior level on a weekly basis and the rigours have taken their toll.

by Nick Tsambouniaris

Image Source: gazzetta.gr

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