Showing its worst possible sporting character, Panathinaikos, really “quit” after letting in the first goal and finally lost by a clear 2-0 from Panetolikos in a game realized in Panetolikos’ ground, in Agrinion, for the 5th match day of the Super League Greece championship.
The initial image of the duel was not preconceiving what was going to happen later, as mainly due to the will and aggressiveness of Villafañez, Panathinaikos was assertive and willing to prevail over its opponent which was trying to strike mainly by counterattacks, ball possession and by opening corridors. This situation changed in the 20th minute, when Mazurek by a strong straight shoot opened the score for Panetolikos, against the flow the match had till that moment; actually this was the first attack realized by the hosting team. The reaction of the “Greens” did never come, as this goal seemed to distract and disarray their function. With the exception of some sporadic moments of attack, without any impressive chance, the “Shamrock” didn’t show any other achievements till the pause.
The second half started with a change in the team of Marinos Ouzounidis, as Chavez substituted Altman, taking more risks and increasing its presence close and around the opponent box, but letting more free spaces for counterattacks to the rivals, that could create situations to score. The flow of the game was such that Panetolikos was rather closer to score than Panathinaikos and this happened again in the 65th minute, proving that the match was almost coming to an end. Without confidence nor strength and without any cohesion, the unique case in which Kyriakidis’ goalposts could be threatened was during set pieces, shot mostly by Moledo, who couldn’t score to help his team’s come back into the game. This way Panathinaikos completed the fifth match day of the championship achieving, altogether till then, a victory, two draws and two defeats, remaining almost in the bottom of the scoreboard.
Lineups:
Panetolikos:Kyriakidis, Marinakis, Moras, Michai, Rotsa, Bejarano, Paulo, Mazurek (74’ Bravo), Clesio, Rosa (79’ Tsokanis), Diaz (84’ Markovsky).
Panathinaikos:Vlachodimos, Johansson, Moledo, Kourbelis, Hult, Villafañez, Sylla, Hiljemark, Lod (64’ Mounier), Altman (46’ Chavez, 70’ Hatziyiovannis), Molins.
