The match match that started with a missed penalty and a missed one-on-one chance, and the fear was – like so many times this season, that luck would again not be on PAOK’s side. But fortunately the visitors dominated proceedings and the match ended in «only» a 2-0 win. What matters, however, is the three points at such a critical juncture in the season. They are points that give the club momentum and the psychological boost needed in the race for second place.<\/p>\n
Abel Ferreira<\/strong> opted once more for a 4-3-3 system starting with Miroslav Stoch<\/strong>, Diego Biseswar <\/b>and Karol Swiderski <\/strong>in place of Chuba Akpom<\/strong>, Dimitris Limnios <\/b>and the suspended Omar El Kaddouri.<\/strong><\/p>\n The Dikefalos tou Vorra <\/b>began strongly and up to the 12th-minute mark missed three great chances to open the scoring. Firstly Swiderski<\/strong> failed to beat Julian Cuesta <\/b>from the penalty spot in the first minute after PAOK were awarded the spot-kick when Ba <\/strong>handled the ball. Then the Aris<\/strong> goalkeeper saved brilliantly from Biseswar<\/strong> when the Dutchman was clean through on goal, and finally, Cuesta <\/strong>came to rescue again to deny Giannoulis <\/b>who fired in a powerful shot from inside the penalty area.<\/p>\n Aris<\/strong> tried to find an equalizer but it was PAOK <\/b>who continued to create chances with Leo Matos<\/strong> narrowly missing the target from a good position in the 20th minute and Cuesta<\/strong> again coming out on top against Swiderski<\/strong> on 27 minutes.<\/p>\n The breakthrough finally came in the 36th minute when Varela<\/strong> powered in a header from Stoch’s <\/strong>set-piece. Aris<\/strong> tried to respond but Paschalakis<\/strong> reacted well in two incidents to deny them, and then Swiderski<\/strong> finished well from Biseswar’s<\/strong> assist in added time to send his team into the dressing rooms at half-time 2-0 up.<\/p>\n In the second half PAOK <\/b>went about protecting their lead but also missed several other chances. There was little threat offered by the home side and in the end PAOK<\/strong> celebrated their second win of the Super League Play<\/strong> Offs.<\/strong><\/p>\n Among the other game highlights was the debut of Charis Tsiggaras<\/strong>, who came on as a substitute, while Aris<\/strong> finished the game with 10 players after Giorgos Delizisis<\/strong> was sent-off in added time for a crude challenge on substitute Akpom,<\/strong> who would have had a clear run on goal.<\/p>\n Abel Ferreira’s<\/strong> team managed to come up with the ideal response to last Wednesday’s Greek Cup <\/strong>exit, they were completely superior for the whole 90 minutes at the Kleanthis Vikelidis Stadium,<\/strong> and they made an important step towards securing second place and a spot in the UEFA<\/strong> Champions League <\/strong>qualifiers.<\/p>\n The team lineups:<\/p>\n Aris<\/strong> (Oenning): Cuetas, Rose, Delizisis, Lucas Sasha, Korhut, Ba, Matilla, Tonso, Mancini, Bruno Gama, Indeye<\/p>\n PAOK <\/b>(Ferreira<\/strong>):\u00a0Paschalakis<\/strong>, Matos <\/b>(93\u2019 Michailidis<\/strong>), Giannoulis<\/strong>, Varela<\/strong>, Ingason<\/strong>, Mauricio<\/strong>, Esiti<\/strong>, Swiderski<\/b>(82\u2019 Akpom<\/strong>), Tziolis <\/b>(81\u2019 Rodrigo<\/strong>), Stoch <\/b>(86\u2019 Tsiggaras<\/strong>), Biseswar <\/strong>(86\u2019 Limnios<\/strong>).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"That PAOK’s luck has provocatively turned its back on the team since the turn of the year is well known. On Sunday in Charilaou, however, PAOK defeated Aris – and the club’s bad luck – by producing a completely dominant display.","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":578985,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1520,5],"tags":[1519,2608,3960,4823,11904],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n