PAOK complete incredible cup comeback
GREEK FOOTBALL CUP - SEMI-FINALS (LEG 1)
PAOK claimed first blood in their Greek Cup semi-final battle with Olympiacos on Wednesday by coming from 2-0 down to beat the Piraeus club 3-2 in a thrilling North vs. South derby first leg clash at the Toumba in Thessaloniki.
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An astonishing opening 12 minutes saw four goals scored as both defences seemed to malfunction in spectacular style. First, the Toumba crowd were stunned into utter silence within the opening nine minutes as goals from Ahmed Hassan and Guilherme put Pedro Martins’ Olympiacos side 2-0 in front.
But PAOK did not collapse, however, and they immediately pulled a goal back on 10 minutes through Dimitris Pelkas, before Josip Misic rifled in a superbly timed volley from the edge of the penalty area.
The second half had a lot to live up to, and sadly it could not deliver the spectacle of the first in terms of goals scored, but the crucial moment came on 69 minutes when Pelkas slotted home the winning goal from the penalty spot after Ruben Semedo was penalised for handball.
PAOK had to hang on in the closing minutes after Dimitris Giannoulis was red-carded for a cynical tackle on Olympiacos substitute Lazar Randjelovic as the visitors attempted to counter attack.
The result sets up an intriguing second leg encounter at the Georgios Karaiskakis when holders PAOK will look to defend their slender advantage to reach their fourth final in succession.
THE MATCH
PAOK came into this match looking for revenge over their title rivals having lost 1-0 to Olympiacos at the same ground in the league just two weeks ago. Not only that, however, PAOK are aiming to win the cup for a fourth consecutive season after defeating AEK in the last three finals.
Olympiacos, one of the few teams still unbeaten among the European leagues this season arrived in Thessaloniki on the back of a rich vein of form which has seen them establish a seven-point lead over PAOK in the Super League, as well as eliminating Arsenal in the Europa League Round of 32.
PAOK were slightly depleted in defence, with both Jose Crespo and Fernando Varela missing due to injuries, Ingi Ingason and the inexperienced Enea Mihaj started at the heart of the hosts’ defence.
Olympiacos were without Kostas Fortounis after a feud with Martins. Fortounis did apologize for his actions, however, Martins opted to leave him in Athens - marking the fourth game in a row that Fortounis has missed, while 17-year-old Konstantinos Tzolakis made his debut in goal in place of the injured Jose Sa.
It was imperative for PAOK to get off to a strong start to send a message to both Olympiacos as well as to galvanize the home crowd, but what happened in the opening 12 minutes was not quite what anyone expected.
First the Toumba was stunned into silence after only three minutes as Olympiacos made the perfect start when Hassan prodded the ball home after PAOK goalkeeper Alexandros Paschalakis fumbled the striker’s initial header from a brilliant Mathieu Valbuena cross.
Then six minutes later the visitors went 2-0 up when Guilherme scored a brave diving header at the back post from the overlapping Kostas Tsimikas’ center, taking a boot to the face in the process.
A shell-shocked PAOK could have crumbled at that point, especially after all the recent negativity surrounding the club’s form and style of play. But the home side found the response it needed.
First, Pelkas rammed the ball into the roof of the net in the 10th minute following Dimitris’ Giannoulis’ deflected cross from the left. Then, just two minutes later came the best goal of the half when Misic sent a delicious volley into the top right corner of Tzolakis’ goal from the edge of the penalty area to make it 2-2.
It was breathless at that point, but with the scores even once more, the tempo dropped and the game became littered with niggly fouls as both teams began to get frustrated.
Pelkas had another chance to score mid-way through the half when he raced through on goal, but the alert Tzolakis got there just in time to smother the ball at the Greek midfielder’s feet.
Olympiacos then squandered the best chance to make it 3-2 just before half-time when Papa Abou Cisse headed wide unmarked from six yards out.
The onus was on PAOK to come out in the second half to try and win the game in front of their fans in order to build an advantage to defend in the return leg, and the Dikefalos tou Vorra went about it to the best of their ability.
However, it was Olympiacos who had the ball in the net after 55 minutes with Hassan rifling home from close range, but the ‘goal’ was correctly ruled out for an offside on Guilherme in the build-up.
That came after Cisse missed a great chance just four minutes after the restart, the big defender once more heading wide under no pressure.
The visitors were then made to pay dearly in the 69th minute when Semedo handled the ball in the penalty box and the Spanish referee Javier Fernandez had no hesitation in pointing to the spot.
Cue Pelkas to step up and complete a brilliant comeback by PAOK, slotting the ball into Tzolakis’ left corner. The young Olympiacos goalkeeper guessed correctly but Pelkas’ well-directed kick was out of his reach.
There were half chances for both sides before Giannoulis’ sending off, after which PAOK simply battened down the hatches to keep Olympiacos and bay and seal a hard-earned win which gives them the initiative in the tie.
STARTING LINEUPS
PAOK: 31 Paschalakis (GK), 3 Matos, 4 Ingason, Mihaj, 23 Giannoulis, 8 Mauricio, 27 Misic, 21 Biseswar, 7 El Kaddouri, 10 Pelkas, 47 Akpom
Possible line-up: 81 Tzolakis (GK), 14 Elabdellaoui, 3 Ruben Semedo, 66 Cisse, 21 Tsimikas, 5 Bouchalakis, 4 Camara, 8 Guilherme, 28 Valbuena, 19 Masouras, 99 Hassan
