PAOK welcomed AEK to Toumba in their last chance to stay alive in the title hunt and succeeded
The two teams met for the 8th matchday of the Super League playoffs, in a pivotal game in the title battle. The game started with a delay of 11 minutes, after the referee waited for two banners hung by the home fans to come down.
The two favorites had an excellent start scoring 2 goals bringing the match to 1-1 from 9′.
It started in the 3rd minute when Brandon Thomas fed Baba and he curled in from the left, with Constantelia finishing perfectly to make it 1-0 amid wild celebrations.
The Yellow and Blacks reacted immediately: In the 9th minute, Pineda entered the area from the left, avoided anyone in front of him and sent the ball over the post and in for 1-1.
Gemisma Hadjisafi, Schwab sent the projection, Kotarski saved and Vida headed the 1-2.
In the 32nd minute, AEK threatened with Kotarski blocking Araujo’s shot from inside the area with one hand.
Then PAOK rallied, put pressure on “Enos” and created two great opportunities, with Athanasiadis making great saves, keeping the score 1-1.
In the 37th minute, Koulierakis headed home, after a corner kick, seeing the AEK goalkeeper as he cleared the ball, which found the crossbar.
Two minutes later Athanasiadis came to the rescue again, clearing the ball for a corner following Schwab’s header from inside the area.
In the 67th minute, the goalkeeper of the yellow-and-black team made another amazing intervention, clearing the ball for a corner after Constantelia’s shot.
In the 75th, Vida headed AEK ahead, but six minutes later the home team equalized with Konstantelia’s second personal goal of the game.
The Thessalonians made a complete turnaround in the 90′ with Sastre’s shot from outside the area, making it 3-2.
Referee: Robert Schroeder (Germany) 1st Assistant: Norbert Sven Grudzinski 2nd Assistant: Jan Clemens Nigel Petersen 4th Referee: Panagiotis-Raphael Tsiaras VAR: Timo Gerach (Germany)
