It was a balanced encounter in the first half, but PAOK improved after the interval and, thanks to a “super sub”, they managed to win their 5th Greek Cup trophy in front of 8.000 black-and-white fans in Panthessaliko Stadium.

The “Double-Headed Eagle” carved their first noteworthy chance to score in the 13th minute, when Yevhen Shakhov’s dangerous header was cleared instinctively by Anestis.

After a rather tentative game in the first twenty minutes, the complexion of the encounter changed. In the 24th minute, Djalma Campos dribbled his way into AEK’s area and set up Diego Biseswar who was lurking near the six-yard box and fired PAOK in the lead.

However AEK Athens responded almost immediately, making it 1-1 with a long-range shot by Christodoulopoulos.

Biseswar wasted a great opportunity to restore PAOK’s lead in the 39th minute, as his technical shot following a fine combination with Gojko Cimirot went just wide.

The two sides continued their efforts after the interval, but it was PAOK who created more dangerous. A powerful long-range shot by Cimirot flew just over the crossbar at the stroke of the hour.

The outcome of the final was sealed in the 81st minute, when super-sub Pedro Henrique made 2-1 with a header from close up.

The “Double-Headed Eagle” negotiated the remaining minutes of the encounter and were proclaimed Greek Cup winners of 2016-17, fourteen years after their last title. It’s their fifth trophy in the competition and hopefully the first of many to come…!

Line-ups:

PΑΟΚ: Glykos, Μatos, Varela, Crespo, Leovac, Cañas, Shakhov, Cimirot (86’ Malezas), Biseswar (90’Kitsiou), Campos (73’ Henrique), Prijović.

ΑΕΚ: Αnestis, Vranješ, Galo, Chygrynskiy, Dídac, Simões (83’ Almeida), Johansson, Christodoulopoulos (86’ Vargas), Mantalos, Rodríguez (68’ Galanopoulos), Araujo.