PAOK drop two points at the death
In a game in which they had complete control, took an early lead, created many important opportunities, but did not kill off the game, PAOK conceded a dramatic late goal in the 102nd minute from OFI and threw away two points in Heraklion.
With the only change to the team from the revious match the introduction of Andrija Zivkovic in place of Diego Biseswar, PAOK came out in determined mood at the «Theodoros Vardinogiannis», and the early pressure saw them take an eighth-minute lead with a beautiful goal.
Vieirinha played an amazing pass to Narey in behind the Cretan defense, the German controlled the ball with his chest and before the ball hit the ground he struck a sweet shot beyond the home goalkeeper to make it 1-0.
The Double-headed Eagle tried to build on the goal and seal the win with more goals, but the score remained 1-0 until half-time, with Douglas and Oliveira each having great chances, while OFI threatened just once with Diousse missing the target from a good position.
In the second half, PAOK started strongly and in the first three minutes had some good chances with Narey initially seeing Stevens save his shot and Koulierakis failing to find the target with a header.
In the 60th minute, the game was stopped for about eight minutes due to smoke from flares being thrown onto the pitch, which also disrupted the pace of the match. The hosts took risks in the last quarter of the match, leaving space for PAOK to strike on the counter, but the Double-headed Eagle failed to find a second goal.
In the 81st minute, Narey saw a shot blocked by Larson’s leg and go out for a corner. In the 83rd minute it was Brandon Thomas’ turn to threaten, but Stevens parried the Spaniard’s powerful shot away to safety. On 85 minutes Andrija Zivkovic squared the ball for Brandon but he didn’t get as good a connection on the ball as he would have wanted, while in the 88th minute El Kaddouri entered the penaty area and crossed, but Brandon again did not find the target but was then flagged for offside anyway.
And, after PAOK did not seal the victory, OFI came forward in what was the 102nd minute to equalize after a corner, with Diamantis heading hom to deprive Razvan Lucescu’s team of two points.
PAOK remain in second place, four points behind Panathinaikos, who they will welcome at the Toumba after the break for internationals.
Team lineups:
OFI (Nikos Nioplias): Stevens, Pasalidis (63′ Durmisai), Vouros, Diamantis, Balogiannis (80′ Torarinson), Larson, Meyado, Perea (84′ Staikos), Duce, Diko, Guerrero (84′ Bifuma).
PAOK (Razvan Lucescu): Kotarski, Koulierakis, Ingason, Vieirinha (25′ Tsaousis), Lyratzis, Dantas, Kurtic (80′ Schwab), Augusto (71′ El Kaddouri), Narey, A.Zivkovic, Oliveira (71′ Brandon) .
