An unlikely “Two-Headed” with a dream first half and showing endurance and determination in the second destroyed the Croatians with 5-1 and passed for the 2nd time in the last three years to the “8” of the UECL!
PAOK put on their European suit once again erasing the recent negative past, made a magical first half by scoring three goals and despite accepting the reduction of the score early in the second half produced – again – a reaction by reaching the emphatic 5-1 over Dinamo Zagreb and qualification to the “8” of the UECL!
The shots of the coaches
Razvan Lucescu made two changes from the first leg, choosing to start Adelino Vieirania in place of Otto and Schwab in place of Ozdoev in the classic 4-2-3-1. The lack of creation from the extreme defenders in the last matches and the dysfunction of the duo Meite – Ozdoev led the Romanian technician to the specific choices, keeping his midfield line unchanged with Thomas at the top.
At the other end, Sergej Jakirovic kept his full confidence in his first-leg line-up selections for his own 4-2-3-1, which he had. between the two matches against PAOK.
PAOK out of the best dreams
With the help of the crowd, PAOK entered the match strongly from the 1st minute, tried to impose its pace by taking advantage of Vieirania’s presence at the level of creation from the back line and especially from the ends of the defense, which he missed so much in the previous games match.
Within the first 10 minutes, he managed to create good conditions in two phases with interventions by the central defenders, which the home team protested as they were marks on Brandon Thomas inside the area, but without anything worthwhile.
With the completion of the first 10 minutes, Dinamo showed a willingness to balance the image of the match by climbing meters on the field, threatening from the wings, but without anything remarkable.
In the 15th minute, the first big phase for “Two-Headed” when Koulierakis caught the nailed header from a foul, but sent the ball over Nevistits! And a few minutes later in the 19th minute, in a very good collective effort, Živkovic with a wonderful move emptied his personal opponent, he crossed but the ball went over the goal!
The hosts continued with their foot pressed on the gas and in the 22nd minute, Constantelia’s shot from inside the area with the left counter-attack went for a corner, just outside the goal. At the same minute Živković’s cross from the right, Koulierakis’ header hits the 2nd post with the ball just going wide!
However, PAOK’s determination paid off in the 27th minute when, from a corner kick, Koulierakis caught the deflected header sending the ball to the 2nd post and there Bamba in the same way (s.s. header) sent the ball into the net for 1 -0 causing delirium of excitement in the stands. And in the very next minute, he stole the ball from the Croats’ cross, launched a counter-attack with Constantelia catching the powerful shot outside the area and the ball flying high!
But nothing seemed able to stop the momentum of the footballers, Razvan Lucescu, so after a corner kick and the removal of the Croatian defense, the ball reached Koulierakis, he caught the powerful shot, the ball hit Susic’s back and ended up in the right corner home of Nevistic in pandemonium as within 33′ minutes PAOK equalized the score of the first match!
Dinamo tried to get a reaction and four minutes later in a phase with a lot of luck it reached Petkovic who from the left tried to beat Kotarski with the goalkeeper of “Dikefalos” telling him “no”! The Croatian team is fast and very capable in development, but the placements and overlap of the home team’s players are excellent.
But PAOK was unstoppable, this PAOK. Thus, in the 43rd minute, Constantelias “danced” from the left to whoever he found in front of him, collaborated with Tyson, the Brazilian sent a sweet cross to the second post where Brandon Thomas with a header – “fish” sent the ball into the net, giving his team a qualifying score !
He suffered, endured and flew for the “8”
The two teams returned to the field without any changes to their original formations and if the team showed a willingness to continue where it left off, another defensive error gave the Croatians the opportunity to find a goal with Hoxha in the 49th minute when Kenziora in his attempt to clear fed Hoxha who at an angle with a strong shot beat Kotarski reducing to 3-1 and recovering part of their shattered psychology from everything that had preceded in the first 45 minutes.
Something that was also seen in the following minutes, with Dinamo pressing, stealing the ball and Kotarski stopping Spikic in a unique four-four! And in the 56th minute, in the counterattack phase, Susic threatened with a shot that went over Kotarski’s goal. The successive opportunities of the States continued and in the 60th minute it was Baturina’s turn to threaten with a shot from outside the area which was countered and passed for a corner. And in the 64th minute, in a fast transition phase, the ball reached Susic, who with exceptional energy caught the spot with Kotarski making the intervention of the match by driving to a corner!
The bad words for Razvan Lucescu came from Tyson in the 65th minute when he asked for a change due to a problem. However, the solution for PAOK came from a static phase. A corner kick, Schwab’s heel and Koulierakis sent the ball into the net with his chest, celebrating the third goal in the organization for 4-1!!!
Razvan Lucescu made changes, replacing Otto, Ozdoev, Despodov, Samata in the match. But in the 81′ from stoppage time, Kulenovic scored, but the goal was rightly canceled as he used his hands.
In the 82nd minute, after an excellent team effort, Ozdoev gave a ready goal to Murg with the Austrian failing to finish the match, missing from the height of the penalty!
In the 85th minute, Misic from the axis with a strong shot tested Kotarski’s reflexes with the PAOK goalkeeper declaring himself present again! And the icing on the cake came in the 87th minute when in a counterattack Samata sent Despodov out, the Bulgarian was brought down by Misic in the area and Zivkovic coolly executed for 5-1!!!!!
Referee
Harm Osmers (Germany)
WAS
Soren Storks (Germany)
AVAR
Benjamin Brandt (Germany)
Assistants
Robert Kempters (Germany)
Dominique Saal (Germany)
Fourth
Benjamin Brandt (Germany)
The compositions
PAOK (R. Lucescu) (4-2-3-1): Kotarski, Baba, Koulierakis, Kenziora, Vieirinia (Otto 77′), Schwab (Ozdoev 82′), Meite, Tyson (Despodov 67′), Constantelias (Murg 77′), Andria, Brandon (Samata 77′).
Dinamo Zagreb (S. Jakirovic) (4-2-3-1): Nevistic, Ristovski, Perkovic (Ogiara 80′), Bernauer Teofil-Katrin, Misic, Suchic, Baturina, Spikic (Kaneko 74′), Hoxha (Vidovic 80′), Petkovic.