Razvan Louchescu’s side put the disappointment of losing the Greek Cup behind them and came back strongly, beating Olympiacos 3-1 in Thessaloniki. With the result, the two teams are now level on 61 points, remaining behind leaders AEK Athens.
The visitors started the game the stronger and threatened early on, with Cicinho trying his foot in just the first few seconds. Two more good moments followed in the 5th and 6th minutes, with him and El Kaabi, but to no avail.
Contrary to the flow of the game, PAOK opened the scoring on 15′ when Yeremeyev took advantage of a shaky intervention by Tzolakis and sent the ball into the net. Olympiacos continued to press and threatened again through Martins and El Kaabi, but Pavlenka kept his team’s lead.
The Reds’ response came on 28 minutes, when Cicinho turned the ball over from the right and El Kaabi headed in the ball to level the score at 1-1. By the end of the first half, the tempo dropped significantly and there were no more important plays.
In the second half, Olympiacos tried to impose their rhythm, but PAOK found the way to the net again on 54 minutes. Konstantelias created the play and Zivkovic finished in exemplary fashion to make it 2-1.
A few minutes later, Cicinho came close to an equaliser, but Pavlenka made an impressive save. On 65 minutes, PAOK settled the game: Konstantelias broke through the defence, Zivkovic turned the ball over and Yeremeyev scored from close range to make it 3-1.
In the last half-hour, the tempo dropped, with both teams making several changes. PAOK managed their lead well and were not particularly threatened until the final whistle, securing an important victory.
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