Comeback win to get the party started
Despite falling behind, PAOK quickly managed to find their form and turn the final Conference League group stage match on its head, beating HJK Helsinki 4-2 to become the first Greek team in history to collect 16 points in a European competition group stage.
PAOK has shown this season that the team can cope with any difficulty it finds in front of them. The Black and Whites have managed to turn around games that seemed lost until their final seconds. Radulovic’s opening goal for HJK in just the sixth minute came as a surprise, but did not cause alarem to anyone.
Razvan Lucescu’s players kept their heads, stayed calm on the pitch and gradually dominated the game. Michailidis hit the post, Despodov was denied by Maenpa, and Konstantelias missed a prodded effort in the 37th minute.
PAOK kept possession well though, and the equalizer came when Meite squared the ball across goal for the incoming Ozdoev, who powered teh ball into the net with an abasolute thunderbolt of a strike to make it 1-1 before half-time.
The second half started perfectly for the home side. In the 47th minute, the visitirng defenders failed to clear the ball properly, Brandon got his foot in to win possession, and it fell kindly to Konstantelias who scored without hesitation to put the hosts ahead for the first time in the match at 2-1.
Six minutes later another PAOK Academy graduate, Giannis Michailidis, got his name on the scoresheet, too. The defender fired in a shot from close range and teh ball bounced off a defender before nestling in the back of net past a bamboozled Helsinki goalkeeper for 3-1.
PAOK continued to have absolute control and in the 85th minute, Thomas Murg made it 4-1 with a perfect finish, after an assist from Taison.
Helsinki managed to grab what proved to be another consolation goal to make it 4-2 in the first minute of stoppage time, via Hetemai’s well-taken penalty.
And so teh final whistle blew and the victory and qualification party could begin, as Lucescu’s team made history, reaching 16 points, while also remaining unbeaten for 12 consecutive games in this year’s European matches so far.
Team lineups:
PAOK: Kotarski, Rafa Soares (Baba 70′), Michailidis, Ekong, Kedziora (Vieirinha 79′), Ozdoev (Marcos Antonio 70′), Meite, Taison, Konstantelias (Murg 75′), Despodov, Brandon (Tzimas 80′)
Helsinki: Maenpa, Hamalainen, Gratsa, Toivio, Keskinen (Olusania 65′), Soiri, Lingman (Paanen 80′), Kanellopoulos (Benisan 65′), Bande, Hostika (Hetemai 65′), Radulovic (Olila 65′).
