Unbeaten PAS Giannina earn slender advantage against Panathinaikos
GREEK FOOTBALL CUP - LAST 16 (LEG 1)
PAS Giannina, still unbeaten across all competitions in the current season, earned a slender 1-0 advantage over Panathinaikos in the first leg of the Greek Cup Last 16 tie.
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The proud undefeated run continues. Panathinaikos did begin the game as favourites, but in the 28th minute of play, Giorgos Pamlidis tucked the ball home beyond Sokratis Dioudis to earn a narrow 1-0 win for PAS in Ioannina. PAS, the current leaders of the Super League 2 and promotion favourites, are still unbeaten across all competitions this season.
Panathinaikos will hope to change that when they host PAS at the Olympic Stadium in the second leg next week.
THE MATCH
Having made the brighter start in Ioannina, PAS broke the deadlock near the half-hour mark, as Pamlidis prodded the ball past Dioudis after escaped the attention of the Panathinaikos defence.
Nevertheless, Panathinaikos did improve as the half progressed, and Christos Donis came close to an equaliser as his curling free-kick flashed off target.
Panathinaikos could, and probably should, have notched their away goal in the 56th minute.
Taking aim from a good position, Argyris Kampetsis beat the goalkeeper, but his low shot trickled agonisingly wide of the right post.
PAS then missed a glorious opportunity of their own as a header from a corner found the side netting with Dioudis struggling to get across in time.
With 17 minutes remaining, Kampetsis had another great chance for Panathinaikos, as his fierce volley was brilliantly stopped by Serafeim Giannikoglou.
In the closing stages, Panathinaikos continued attacking with intensity, but PAS held on.
TEAMS
PAS Giannina: Giannikoglou, Siontis, Skondras, Xydas (Liasos 84’), Fabry, Apostolopoulos, Boukouvalas, Pantelakis, Krizman (Baptiste 68’), Kartalis (Naumets 74’), Pamlidis.
Panathinaikos: Dioudis, Apostolakis, Kolovetsios, Nunes, Poungouras, Chatzitheodoridis (Bouzoukis 74’), Donis, Zahid, Chatzigiovanis, Kampetsis, Bech (Mendoza 46’).
HIGHLIGHTS
