Against the weak New Saints from Wales, o Panathinaikos easily took the win 2-0 for the 5th game of his League Phase Conference League and increased hopes for qualification to the next phase of the competition.
Panathinaikos were dominant for most of the match and with Djurisic opening the scoring early on, they had no trouble making the double at the neutral ground of New Saints in England. Despite missing several chances for a second goal, Ioannidis “cleaned up” with a penalty in the 62nd minute of the match in the Conference League.
The game
Panathinaikos entered the match strongly and “warned” with a Djurisic cross that was countered in front of the goal, before finally finding the way to the net, with the same player. In the 16th minute, Vagiannidis, with a nice turn from the right, found the Serb in front of the goal and he finally beat the goalkeeper of New Sands with a double effort, for the “clover” 1-0 in the game.
Panathinaikos “relaxed” after his goal and New Saints “threatened” him with an equaliser, but Dragovski intervened whenever needed and avoided the worst. The “greens” then took possession again and “dominated” the rest of the half.
They even created several chances for a second goal, but Arao “scratched” the post with a header and Ingason failed to beat Roberts from close range in the best of two moments before the 45th minute.
The image of the match did not change in the second half, with Panathinaikos closing in on New Saints in their area and looking for the goal that would “lock” the match. Vagiannidis almost scored in the 57th minute, but it was cut off after he had also passed the home goalkeeper, with the goal finally coming from a penalty.
Djurisic was also the protagonist in the second goal of the “greens”, after he won the penalty with a push in the area, allowing Ioannidis to… unbuckle. The captain of the “trefoil” took the responsibility to execute the last penalty and found the net after a long time, for the 2-0 of Panathinaikos in England.
Panathinaikos continued to look for the goal in the rest of the match, having heaps of missed opportunities, with Max, Mancini, Ioannidis and Tete proving to be misplaced and keeping the score at low levels.
Even so, Panathinaikos took the victory 2-0, made it 2/2 in the last matches and re-entered the “battle” for the qualification to the Conference League playoffs. The “greens” now need just one point in the last matchday to be sure of the next phase of the competition.
The compositions at New Saints – Panathinaikos
New Saints (Craig Harrison): Roberts, Baker (11′ Daniels), McGaughey, Pask, Davies, Clarke (78′ Wilson), D. Williams (64′ Smith), Redmond, Holden, J. Williams (64′ McManus), Brobell (78′ Bradley).
Panathinaikos (Rui Vitoria): Dragovski, Vagiannidis (89′ Kotsiras), Senkefeld (46′ Jedvaj), Ingason, Mladenovic (72′ Max), Maksimovic, Arao, Bakasetas (89′ Unai), Tete, Ioannidis, Djurisic (72′ Mancini).