Panathinaikos and PAOK played out a goalless draw (0-0) at Toumba stadium, in Thessaloniki, in the opening round of the Stoiximan Super League playoffs.
The Greens were solid defensively and were rarely threatened, while they also created the better chances to score, but ultimately could not find the back of the net.
The first half was tense and very tight, with mistakes from both sides. Notably, neither team registered a shot on target. PAOK had an off-target header by Baba in the 8th minute following a corner by Chatsidis, while Panathinaikos’ best effort came in the 34th minute with a powerful long-range diagonal shot by Jedvaj that deflected out for a corner.
At the start of the second half (47’), Jeremejeff found himself one-on-one with Lafont, who reacted superbly to make a crucial save. The Greens increased their tempo and became much more threatening, first in the 53rd minute through an individual effort by Calabria, who was denied by Tsiftsis, and then in the 55th minute with a double chance: first, Tetteh failed to strike the ball cleanly from the penalty spot area, and moments later Jedvaj unleashed a powerful low shot that deflected and went just wide of PAOK’s left post.
In the 64th minute, Panathinaikos missed their biggest chance when substitute Zaroury fired a diagonal shot from inside the box after a precise free-kick by Tsirivella, but failed to hit the target. Rafa Benítez’s players controlled the tempo until the end but were unable to score the winning goal.
PAOK: Tsiftsis, Sastre (66’ Sánchez), Baba, Kedziora, Michailidis, Ozdoev, Zafeiris (76’ Kamara), Chatsidis (71’ Pelkas), Konstantelias, Taison, Jeremejeff (66’ Giakoumakis).
Panathinaikos: Lafont, Ingason, Jedvaj, Hernández, Calabria, Kyriakopoulos, Chirivella (88’ Cerin), Bakasetas (75’ Renato Sanches), Pellistri (63’ Zaroury), Taborda (75’ Andino), Tetteh (75’ Swiderski).
