Panathinaikos lost two valuable points against Panserraikos as it got stuck in the… mud of Serres and Greek football. The match, which ended in a 2-2 draw, was taint by the decisions of referee Tsagarakis, who initially forced the two teams to play on a field… like a swimming pool and then awarded a penalty and sent off Dragowski in a play that should have given a yellow card to Betancor and a foul in favor of the Greens.
Rui Vitoria’s players made a dynamic start, missing a great opportunity in just the 2nd minute. The ball got stuck in the wet ground in an attempt to clear Gugesashvili. Tete was the recipient but was unable to score with a double effort. The poor condition of the pitch made the players’ subsequent efforts incredibly difficult.
Nevertheless, the Shamrock, playing patiently, looked for its moment and found it in the 38th minute. Arao made the pass, Ioannidis took the header, laying it for Tete, who caught a wonderful dribble shot outside the area and sent the ball “recommended” into the left corner, writing 0-1.
The Greens also touched the goal in the 45th minute with another great double opportunity. After a cross from Tete, Maksimovic headed the ball in but Gugesashvili saved it with an impressive leap. In the process, Ingason shot diagonally from inside the area, but again the Georgian goalkeeper headed it away!
The second half started perfectly for Panathinaikos. Shortly after the restart (47’) Maksimovic “marked” the left post after a cross from Tete, while in the next minute the Greens took a two-goal lead. In the 48’ Max made an excellent cross from the left and Cerin, with an incredible finish, sent the ball into the net, making it 0-2.
However, the game was not over. In the 64th minute, Betancor reduced the score to 1-2 with a header, and in the 69th minute, a wrong decision by referee Tsagarakis followed, which essentially determined the final outcome of the match. Betancor challenged Dragowski inside the penalty area and the two players had a “cockfight”. They came head-to-head, Panserraikos’ player fell on the ground and the referee of the match awarded a penalty and sent off Dragowski, instead of whistling an offensive foul (and yellow card) to Betancor, who was the first to rush to harass the Polish goalkeeper inside the penalty area.
Lodygin replaced Tete but Betancor scored the penalty, making the final score 2-2 in the 76th minute, as, no matter how hard the Greens tried, they could not find the way to the net, having to face… gods and demons again.
After eight consecutive victories in all competitions, the Clover stopped at a playing field that was more reminiscent of… a swimming pool than a football field.
Panserraikos: Gugesashvili, Deligiannidis, Bergstrom, Davidson, Fares, Liassos (85’ Pires), Staikos, Hadjistravos (85’ Sofianos), Deletic (56’ Tomas), Salazar (90+6’ Maskanakis), Betancor.
Panathinaikos: Dragowski, Vagiannidis, Max, Ingason, Schenkeveld, Cerin (87′ Pellistri), Arao, Maksimovic, Tete (74′ Lodygin), Djuricic (46′ Nikas), Ioannidis.
