PAOK edge out Lamia to stay in touch
SUPER LEAGUE - MATCHDAY 20
PAOK kept to within a point of Super League leaders Olympiacos after claiming a narrow 1-0 away victory over Lamia on Thursday in somewhat controversial circumstances.
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Leo Matos scored the only goal of the game after 33 minutes in a phase of play that could not be reviewed by VAR because the system crashed. The referee Athanasios Sezos awarded the goal but there were some strong protests from the home players and officials.
In mattered not as PAOK were in control for long spells of this Matchday 20 encounter in Fthiotida, and Abel Ferreira’s reigning champions claimed another vital three-point haul as they stay within touching distance of the title rivals from Piraeus.
Lamia gave it their best shot, but Akis Mantzios’ men were too often found wanting in attacking areas where they failed to create clear scoring chances against a well-organised PAOK defensive line.
THE MATCH
PAOK came into this game on the back of four successive victories, including two in the Greek Cup as they booked a place in the quarter-finals against Panathinaikos, and they arrived in Lamia in confident mood at a ground they have done well at traditionally.
The issue that PAOK would have pondered before kick-off would have been which Lamia side would show up. Winless in their first eight matches, they staged a wonderful turnaround to then win four from five before dropping off again, with only one win in six.
In front of their home fans, however, they were pushed back early on by a PAOK team clearly eager to get an early goal to settle any anxiety having seen Olympiacos win 1-0 in Crete against OFI 24 hours earlier.
But while PAOK looked in control of possession, moving the ball around nicely, they found it tough going to get past the proverbial bus Lamia parked in front of them, and when they did, both Chuba Akpom and Vieirinha failed to convert from good positions.
Then came the crucial moment after 33 minutes.Vieirinha sent over a perfect free-kick which Matos latched on to, sending the ball into the net with his knee from close range. The referee awarded the goal but then asked for a VAR review, which could not be done as the system crashed and the correct replays were not available.
The match went on amid some heated protests from the home players, and the incident is sure to get plenty of column inches in newspapers on Friday and in fact the weekend.
After the goal the pattern of the game did not change much, only with PAOK looking a little more convservative and seemingly content to sit on their lead and wait for the right opportunity to strike and kill off the game with a second goal.
That opportunity did not come, but it did not matter to the Thessaloniki club, who held firm to pick up another important win.
STARTING LINEUPS
Lamia: 30 Theodoropoulos (Gk), 27 Vanderson, 8 Pliatsikas, 4 Adejo, 50 Asigba, 18 Romanic, 16 Bejarano, 21 Dimoutsos, 11 Karamanos, 24 Vyntra, 23 Skondras
Paok: 88 Zivkovic (Gk), 3 Matos, 4 Ingason, 5 Varela, 23 Giannoulis, 18 Limnios, 8 Mauricio, 24 Esiti, 20 Vieirinha, 27 Misic, 47 Akpom
HIGHLIGHTS
