Aleksandar Prijović spoke about his celebration in front of Gate 4, PAOK’s important victory and the matches ahead:

“I had been waiting for a long time to celebrate a goal in front of Gate 4 and I believe that it was high time to do it in such a match. I am very happy with our victory.

Everything is possible in football. Had we defeated Iraklis, we would have a better chance. We need to win all our remaining games and wait for Olympiacos to stumble. As long as there is even a glimmer of hope, we will chase after it.

I expected that PAOK would be the right career move. So far everything is perfect. All puzzle pieces have fallen into place. Everybody in the team has helped me. I believe in myself and I always believed I would make it. Everything is going very well, according to plan.

It was very important to keep a clean sheet. We made some errors that helped our rivals create some danger. In the first half, we were the ones to allow Olympiacos into the game. We set things right though, created our own chances, but weren’t calm in our finishing attempts. We knew it was a matter of time before making the most of our opportunities and we were able to score. In such an encounter, it’s important to keep a compact defence, not concede and score.

I will never forget this goal. This game gave us just three points –as all victories do-, but we showed our quality. We made the city happy. We had the right mentality and that was very important.”

Pedro Henrique agreed with his team-mate regarding their emotions and spoke about his physical condition:

“I agree with everything that Prijović said regarding our emotions after our first clash against Olympiacos. I feel exactly the same. I will never forget it! Everything happened so fast. Our fans leave me at a loss for words.

At that moment, I was under the impression that I stepped on the line, that I was in the box. That is what I told the referee, but from where he was standing he saw that I was outside the area. After winning though, this play is of no importance.

My toe nail is fine, nothing to fuss about. But I missed some trainings and the match pace was intense. My calves hurt and I can’t walk properly. I told our coach I wasn’t 100% ready, I was beat and that is why I requested to be taken out.

When I passed the ball, I knew that Prijović had already moved towards the near post and I was hoping he would poke the ball in. Prijović is a predator, a clear-cut 9, with incredible goal instincts. It’s important for us to know that he gets the job done and rarely misses. It boosts our morale.”

Yevhen Shakhov, who paved the way for the “Double-Headed Eagle’s” victory, commented on the team effort, their passion to win and rejoiced on the “bonus” of not having a midweek match ahead:

“We proved today that we wanted this victory more than our rivals. We weren’t that good in the first half, but gave it everything to score after the interval and we managed it with the help of our fans.

It’s not important who scores, but the final result. Before the game, our coach told us that we had to win. Now that we achieved it, we are very happy and we thank you a lot. It’s a bonus for us not having a midweek match ahead.”