The warm applause from Panathinaikos’ fans at the end of the match against Shakhtar Donetsk reflects the great effort put in on the OAKA pitch by Rui Vitória’s players.
The victory didn’t come for the Shamrock, but once again – just as against Rangers – the impression was in their favor. The 0-0 against the Ukrainian team doesn’t do justice to Panathinaikos’ performance, but it leaves the race for qualification to the Europa League playoffs wide open, which will now be decided on the night of August 14th in Krakow.
Panathinaikos appeared “well-studied” and extremely well-prepared for the match against Shakhtar. The Greens played with enviable commitment to their plan and managed to minimize the attacking creativity of a quality team renowned for its style.
The Shamrock was the first team to threaten. In the 11th minute, two consecutive shots from Tete and Maksimović were blocked, and in the continuation of the play, Tuba had a dangerous but off-target header after a cross from Kotsiras.
In the 17th minute, it was Shakhtar’s turn to come close to scoring, but Dragowski saved to a corner Alisson Santana’s shot. In the minutes that followed until halftime, the Greens completely controlled the tempo of the match, and they almost went to the dressing room in the lead. However, both Pellistri’s brilliant volley and Palmer-Brown’s header in the 45th minute, as well as Tete’s shot in the 45+2’, were denied by Riznyk, who kept a clean sheet.
The second half began in the same pattern, with Panathinaikos imposing their game and closing down spaces for Shakhtar, who couldn’t threaten. In the 55th minute, Rui Vitória made a triple substitution, replacing Chirivella, Kyriakopoulos, and Djuricic by Siopis, Mladenović, and Cerin. Shortly after, in the 59th minute, the Greens made their presence felt in the Ukrainian box after a Tete corner and a dangerous header from Cerin that went wide.
In the 68th minute, Anass Zaroury made his debut for Panathinaikos, and in the 83rd minute, he almost scored with a beautiful right-footed curling shot, but Riznyk saved it. Earlier, in the 80th minute, the Ukrainian goalkeeper had also denied Swiderski in a one-on-one, in the game’s biggest and most classic chance. Mladenovic pressed high and stole the ball, Maksimovic passed it first time to the Polish striker, who aimed for the right corner, but Riznyk reacted immediately to prevent a certain goal.
For their part, Shakhtar had two chances – in the 73rd minute with Eguinaldo and in the 90th with Shved – but Dragowski saved both. The 0-0 remained until the end, and now qualification will be decided in a week on Polish soil…
Panathinaikos: Dragowski, Kotsiras, Kyriakopoulos (55’ Mladenovic), Palmer-Brown, Tuba, Chirivella (55’ Siopis), Maksimovic, Tete (68’ Zaroury), Djuricic (55’ Cerin), Pellistri, Swiderski (81’ Jeremejeff).
Shakhtar: Riznyk, Pedro Henrique, Matviyenko, Bondar, Tobias, Marlon (46’ Bondarenko), Ochereatko, Nevertton, Sudakov, Alisson Santana (73’ Pedrinho), Elias (73’ Eguinaldo, 76’ Shved).
