Back to the top ahead of the derby
This was a match PAOK needed to win. The three points would give the club the chance to move to the top of the Super League table ahead of next weekend’s derby against Olympiacos. And the Dikefalou tou Vorra did not disappoint. Now the club will head to Athens with the aim of settling some scores between the two teams at the top of the standings.
The match was by no means a great spectacle, however this time PAOK played with conviction, kept a clean sheet and got the victory. In the first half PAOK went about patiently trying to work an opening past the Larissa defense, with the usual combination of possession football, off-the-ball movement and focusing own the flanks.
And it was this approach that lead to PAOK creating a series of chances, and after 16 minutes the breakthrough came thanks to Swiderski who stuck out a boot to prod home a great, right-wing cross from Adelino Vierinha.
For the first time since his serious ACL injury last season, Vierinha started the match against Larissa, completing 200 appearances for PAOK.
In the second half the pace of the game dropped off, with both sides failing to keep up the intensity of the opening 45 minutes. Larissa struggled to get in behind PAOK, while the home side were content to sit back, unwilling to risk its usual full-on attacking style of play. And so there were no further goals added to teh scoreline, and PAOK saw out the match to pick up the three points.
Team line-ups:
PAOK (Abel Ferreira): Zivkovic, Matos, Ingason, Crespo, Giannoulis, Douglas, Misic, Vieirinha (72′ Limnios), Kaddouri (84′ Mauricio), Biseswar, Swiderski (70′ Akpom)
Larissa (Michalis Grigoriou): Kristinsson, Michail, Bralic, Moras, Assoubre (83′ Dauda), Stankovic, Secerovic (92′ Ballas), Milosavljevic (69′ Bustos), Andoni, Karanikas, Nunic
