PAOK slip further back after Toumba stalemate
SUPER LEAGUE PLAYOFFS - MATCHDAY 7
PAOK lost further ground to AEK in the battle for second place in the Super League Play Offs on Wednesday after they were held to a goaless draw by Panathinaikos in a North vs. South derby at the Toumba Stadium in Thessaloniki.
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The deposed Super League champions were again uninspiring going forward against a well-organised Panathinaikos side that moved the ball around impressively, and ended up dropping another two points.
PAOK’s Moroccan midfielder Omar El Kaddouri missed the game’s best chance, clipping a first-time shot wide from an unmarked position inside the penalty area as coach Abel Ferreira was left frustrated once more.
The draw, coupled with AEK’s win over OFI Crete, means that the Kitrinomavri are now four points clear of PAOK with just three matches to play in the post-season, meaning that second place and a place in the UEFA Champions League qualifying rounds is disappearing fast for the Dikefaos tou Vorra.
THE MATCH
PAOK headed into this crucial derby desperately needing to get back on track with only four matches remaining.
The Thessaloniki giants welcomed a Panathinaikos team who they had previously failed to beat during the regular season in league play, knowing full well that the three points were a must at this stage.
Abel Ferreira’s side were coming off a poor week where they suffered a home defeat to rivals AEK, while also dropping two points in Crete against OFI. Those results had left the club two points behind AEK in the battle for second place and a spot in the Champions’ League qualifiers.
Panathinaikos came to the Toumba having an outside shot of finishing third in the table, but they have also found the playoffs tough going. Giorgos Donis’ players were looking for only their second win of the post-season.
The match almost got off to an ideal start for PAOK when a misjudged backpass from Vangelis Theocharis let in Chuba Akpom, but Greens goalkeeper Socrates Dioudis was quick off his line to smother the ball as Akpom was about the pull the trigger.
Next it was Panathinaikos to get an opportunity via a quick free-kick taken by Giannis Bouzoukis, who almost caught out PAOK goalkeeper Alexandros Paschalakis. The big ‘keeper scrambled across his box to dive low down to his left to make a good save, however.
After that both teams began to proceed with caution, feeling out each other but without making inroads. Panathinaikos were next to get a sight of goal on 13 minutes. Impressive young wingback Vasilis Zagaritis got the better of PAOK left-back Rodrigo, and he sent over a near post cross which Argyris Kapetsis headed narrowly wide under pressure from Giannis Michailidis.
PAOK looked ponderous and slow in the middle of the park with Mauricio often left with few options in front of him, while Omar El Kaddouri also struggled to get hold of the ball as the visitors pressed high up the pitch and often had two players encroaching on the man in possession. The 19-year-old Zagaritis and 18-year-old midfielder Sotiris Alexandropoulos personified teh youthful exuberance of the team’s display.
You had to wonder if Donis’ young players could keep up the kind of pressing they were executing amid the high summer temperatures, but they did just that. Additionally, the Greens were also much more impressive in possession, playing some slick tiki-taka football that Barcelona would have been proud of.
There were no further clear-cut chances as the first half came to a close, but PAOK did improve towards the final stages of the opening 45 minutes, mainly through Dimitris Giannoulis’ runs down the left flank.
Delicately balanced at the break, it was intriguing to see which team would take more risks in the second half.
Panathinaikos, who had shown their attacking intent in the first half, fashioned the first chance of the second period after 53 minutes with Kapetsis firing in a low shot which Paschalakis did well to get down low to and parry for a corner.
PAOK found an almost immediate response two minutes later, and the hosts should have opened the scoring. Dimitris Giannoulis squared a low cross which Diego Biseswar cleverly stepped over to let the ball run to Akpom. The PAOK forward teed up El Kaddouri perfectly with a lay-off, but somehow the Moroccan midfielder clipped his shot wide of Dioudis’ left post from just 10 yards out and unmarked.
After 62 minutes Rodrigo tried his luck with a long-range effort which flashed narrowly over Dioudis crossbar as PAOK desperately sought a goal, with Ferreira bringing on Miroslav Stoch and Dimitris Limnios for Biseswar and Christos Tziolis in an effort to freshen up his attacking options
But for all the possession PAOK had in the closing 20 minutes of the game, the home side simply did not have the guile and creativity to unlock a well-drilled Panathinaikos defence as the match petered out and ended in a goalless stalemate.
STARTING LINEUPS
PAOK: 31 Paschalakis (GK), 2 Rodrigo, 4 Ingason, 5 Varela, 49 Michailidis, 23 Giannoulis, 7 El Kaddouri, 8 Mauricio, 21 Biseswar, 68 Tzolis, 47 Akpom
Panathinaikos: 1 Dioudis (GK), 4 Kolovetsios, 5 Schenkeveld, 9 Macheda, 12 Chatzitheodoridis, 18 Bouzoukis, 23 Theocharis, 26 Tuhami, 47 Zagaritis, 55 Alexandropoulos, 99 Kabetsis
