PAOK @ Panserraikos Recap: PAOK Picks UP Another Three Points With A Brand New Lineup

PAOK sent out a brand new lineup today against Panserraikos today that looked like:

ST: Mbwana Samatta

LW: Giannis Konstantelias

CAM: Thomas Murg

RW: Kiril Despodov

CDM: Stefan Schwab

CDM: Magomed Ozdoyev
LB: Jonny Otto

CB: Ivan Nasberg

CB: Tomasz Kędziora

RB: Vieirinha

GK: Živko Živković

Dealing with a ton of fatigue and multiple injuries, PAOK have been forced to look deep into the bench for options. Ivan Nasberg had only made five total appearances in the league this year, but was forced into action today in place of both Koulierakis and Michailidis. Vieirinha, who hadn’t seen any minutes since January 7th, was forced to start and give 73 minutes today. Zivko Zivkovic, who hadn’t played a single league match all season up until this past Sunday, was again made to start, as Kotarski continues to deal with a fever. 

Luckily for Lucescu, he was coming up against a rather weak Panserraikos side. With the Round of 16 Conference League match against Dinamo Zagreb inching closer, it’s a good thing we are ending the regular season against some of the lower ranked sides just so we have this opportunity to rest our guys. 

The match itself was a rather uneventful one, but a crucial three points were still up for grabs nonetheless. Both sides came out relatively quiet in the first half other than a few chances generated by Konstantelias. Just before halftime, a Jonny Otto long ball found Giannis Konstantelias, who ran right around the defender and poked the ball off the post and into the back of the net for the opener. It was really poor defending from Panserraikos, but it was a goal that only Konstantelias would think to score.

In the second half, PAOK maintained virtually all of the possession, which led to the frustration of Panserraikos, who would end up getting two players sent off. In the 90’ minute, a cross intended for Despodov found the body of Panserraikos defender Stavros Petavrakis, who unintentionally directed the ball into the net, which sealed the match for PAOK.

Samatta continued to be absolutely useless today, continuing his great run of form. Murg has really fallen off from what was a promising start this season, and should be on the bench in the big European matches. Without the lineup that consists of Brandon, Konstantelias, Taison, and Despodov/Zivkovic, the attacking creativity really falls apart. We desperately need a second striker, but that time has long passed. We’re gonna have to deal with Samatta at least until the end of the season.

PAOK will take on Lamia in their next match, and we are sure to see more of the same in terms of the lineup as the club prepares to fly to Zagreb next Thursday for the biggest match of the season.