PAOK’s inspirational leader Vieirinha scores 40th goal for the club
PAOK’s captain Vieirinha continues to be a leader on the pitch for the Greek champions, after he bought up his 40th goal for the club in PAOK’s crucial 1:0 derby victory over AEK Athens.
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Vieirinha’s decisive goal to claim all three points to keep the Greek champions in touching distance of first placed Olympiacos, came on the month of his 34th birthday. It is a remarkable achievement that the Portuguese veteran is back in the starting eleven aiming to be apart of back to back Greek Super League titles, after suffering two serious knee injuries throughout his career.
There were question marks over Vieirinha’s future in the starting eleven once he had returned to full training whether he would be able to win his place back into the team, following the stellar season Dimitris Giannoulis has been having at left-back. However, Vieirinha’s competitive nature and versatility has shone through as he has found a position on the left-wing.
Days after returning from his ruptured anterior cruciate ligament in November, Vieirinha proved he was the man for the big occasions where he scored a double in PAOK’s 2:2 derby draw against Panathinaikos, extending their unbeaten record. Once again, PAOK faced pressure and expected a response coming into their derby against AEK, following their first loss in the last two seasons to Aris the following week. The experienced head of Vieirinha in the pressure situation stood up and calmly scored the winner for PAOK to keep them within one point of the top of the domestic table. His composure saw him be voted most valuable player of the match.
Vieirinha on the weekend scored his 40th goal for the Dikefalos tou Vorra across his two stints for the club between 2008 to 2012 and again from 2017 to this point in time. Here is a breakdown of his goal scoring tally for PAOK.
2008-2009: 21 appearance, 1 goal
2009-2010: 38 appearances, 7 goals
2010-2011: 47 appearance, 11 goals
2011-2012: 23 appearances, 9 goals
2017-2018: 29 appearances, 2 goals
2018-2019: 37 appearances, 6 goals
2019-2020: 11 appearances, 4 goals
TOTAL: 206 appearances, 40 goals
