With lots of new faces in the starting XI, but with the same philosophy, desire, character and passion, PAOK came out in determined mood, battled hard with all of their collective might, never gave up, and in the end managed to clinch all three points.

PAOK started the first half well, enjoying the control of the play and threatened to score twice within the opening 10 minutes with Jaba and Soares, with neither man able to beat the opposing goalkeeper Lodygin.

The visitors had their only chance of the opening half in the ninth minute when Erramuspe fired in a shot which sailed narrowly wide. From that moment on, the Epirus club were limited to playing most of the match in their own half.

Razvan Lucescu’s hosts had difficulty in creating openings but did threaten again in the 32nd minute through Kurtic, while four minutes later Colak saw a shot blocked by Lodygin. As a result, the teams went into the dressing rooms at the break at 0-0.

In the second half the Double-headed Eagle pressed the visitors more strongly, fashioning openings somewhat easier, with Colak’s side-footed effort proving too tame though after 48 minutes.

In the 59th minute it was Colak again with a header this time failing to find the target, while in the 64th minute Lodygin produced a superb save to deny Mitrita, with Jaba also unable to take advantage from the rebound.

The PAS goalkeeper was on top form again in two separate phases of play in hte 70th minute, when initially he saved impressively from a Kurtic free-kick, and then blocked an effort from Jaba.

Despite those setbacks, PAOK did not give up the ghost and kept attacking with gusto, finally being rewarded for the perseverance in the finale of the match. After a sustained period of pressure, Jaba sent over a cross and Akpom latched on to it to direct the ball into the net and give his team the win they derserved.

And so PAOK began the Play Offs on the front foot and now all the focus switches to the upcoming big match with Genton Thursday in Belgium.

Team lineups:

PAOK: Zivkovic, Sidcley, Michailidis (17′ Crespo), Mihaj, Sastre , Kurtic, Soares (46′ Schwab ), Biseswar (73′ Α.Zivkovic), Murg (46′ Mitrita), Jaba, Colak (66′ Akpom).

PAS Giannina: Lodygin, Oikonomopoulos, Gardawski, Kargas, Erramuspe, Stanko, Dominguez, Schneider, Brenner (73′ Lolis), Perea, Moreira (85′ Pantelakis).