The \u201cDouble-Headed Eagle\u201d did their duty and won in packed Toumba, offering a victory (along with the whole gate income of the game) to Greece in those trying, difficult days. It was very hard-fought win, but PAOK seem ready to seal the deal next Wednesday in Switzerland.<\/p>\n
PAOK were rather mute at the start and it was FC Basel who wasted the first opportunity, through Stocker who fired wide just before the 15th minute.<\/p>\n
From that point on, PAOK gained more possession and prevailed on the pitch. Fernando Varela<\/strong> came close to breaking the deadlock with two headed efforts, as well Jos\u00e9 Alberto Ca\u00f1as<\/strong> with a powerful shot following an excellent combination. The Spaniard didn\u2019t stop there though.<\/p>\n The PAOK midfielder made it 1-0 in the 32nd minute with a long-range stunner. The scoreline remained intact until the interval, despite efforts from Dimitris Limnios<\/strong> and Andr\u00e9 Vieirinha<\/strong> to extend the lead.<\/p>\n In the second half, R\u0103zvan Lucescu\u2019s<\/strong> troops started strongly and wasted two glorious opportunities. Omlin kept his team in the match, denying Maur\u00edcio<\/strong> and Limnios.<\/p>\n The match pace dropped as time went by, but PAOK remained in control. They doubled their lead in the 80th minute with Aleksandar Prijovi\u0107<\/strong> who collaborated with Limnios and beat Omlin with an astonishing side shot.<\/p>\n Two minutes later though, the home side were punished harshly. A deflected cross landed at the feet of Ajetis who reduced distances to 2-1 from close range. <\/p>\n Line-ups:<\/p>\n P\u0391\u039f\u039a<\/strong>: Paschalakis<\/strong>, Matos<\/strong>, Varela<\/strong>, Crespo<\/strong>, Vieirinha<\/strong>, Ca\u00f1as<\/strong>, Maur\u00edcio<\/strong>, Jab\u00e1 <\/strong> (72\u2019 El Kaddouri<\/strong>), Pelkas<\/strong>, Limnios<\/strong> (90\u2019 Shakhov<\/strong>), Prijovi\u0107<\/strong>.<\/p>\n FC Basel<\/strong>: Omlin, Frei, Zuffi, Stocker, Riveros, Such\u00fd, Oberlin (62\u2019 Kalulu), Di\u00e9, Balanta, Petretta (44\u2019 Kaiser), Ajeti (90\u2019 Bua).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"While Greece were going through some of the worst days in their modern history, PAOK were obligated to get on the pitch and fight for European qualification against a very experienced side.","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":455412,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1520,5],"tags":[1499,1528,2250,2608,8298,8341,11217,11219],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n