In the first half, they scored the opener through Dimitris Pelkas (23’) and wasted huge chances to increase their lead with Garry Rodrigues and Róbert Mak. Meanwhile their defence had a quiet afternoon at Arkadia, as the home side would approach Panagiotis Glykos’s area through set pieces freely awarded by referee Pappas.

The complexion of the encounter changed entirely after the interval. Bertoglio equalized with a beautiful individual move in the 49th minute. PAOK had the space and the opportunity to threaten Asteras’ box, but Mak and Rodrigues were shooting off target. With each passing minute, the Tripolis outfit grew more confident that they could turn the tie around. Referee Pappas would not let the match acquire rhythm whistling with every chance he got, while stopping PAOK on their tracks as they made an attempt to take the lead again.

Khalifa Sankaré managed to escape his marker in a corner and scored the winner for Asteras. The home side had more chances to increase their lead in the final minutes, while PAOK were attacking at the other end of the pitch in search of an equalizer. The “Double-Headed Eagle” players were downbeat after the final whistle, in their last of back-to-back matches against the top sides of the Super League.

Igor Tudor didn’t look for excuses –although he could find several– and signaled the poor second half of his team as the root of defeat.

Line-ups:

Asteras Tripolis (Staikos Vergetis): Bantis, Lluy, Giannoulis (55’ Panteliadis), Ζisopoulos, Sankaré, Iglesias, Kourbelis, Bertoglio, Lanzarote (46’ Allocco), Giannou, Papadopoulos (80’ Mazza).

PΑΟΚ (Igor Tudor): Glykos, Vítor, Costa, Tzavellas, Golasa, Tziolis, Leovac (64’ Sabo), Rodrigues, Pelkas , Jairo (46’ Athanasiadis), Mak.