Panathinaikos was stormy and emerged victorious against Helsinki! Rui Vitoria’s team created at least ten classic chances and could have achieved a wide victory against the Finnish team. In the end, however, they prevailed only by 1-0!

The goal was certainly achieved for the Greens as the victory and the three points were the primary goal. The Shamrock celebrated its first victory in the League Phase of the Conference League, reached four points and now looks with greater optimism to the continuation, where it aims to achieve the same number of victories in the remaining matches against the New Saints and Dinamo Minsk in order to continue in the competition in the new year. The counterattack has just begun in the European Cups…

Regardless of the… poor score and the efficiency at the end of the phases, the Greens showed good elements on the field as they had imagination and creativity, circulated the ball well and created countless phases…

Panathinaikos entered the field with a great mood to attack and score a quick goal. They took the reins of the match from the first… second and completely dominated, creating six classic chances in the first half hour of the match!

In the 2nd minute, Djuricic carried the ball nicely, opening for Pellistri, who caught a nice diagonal shot from inside the area but Nijhuis had difficulty blocking it for a corner. In the 5th minute, after an impressive run by Vagiannidis and a turn towards Pellistri, the Uruguayan shot but the ball went wide and ended up as a corner. Again, in the 14th minute, Pellistri found himself in a shooting position from a ball by Djuricic, but again Nijhuis prevented the goal with a saving intervention.

In the 17th minute, it was Djuricic’s turn to face the HJK goalkeeper, but the shot that the Serb caught was blocked. Panathinaikos’ offensive crescendo continued with another great opportunity in the 28th minute. Jeremejeff and Bakasetas combined wonderfully, Pellistri again went against Nijhuis, who once again prevented the violation of his goal.

The goal was a matter of time for Panathinaikos, who finally saw their efforts bear fruit in the 33rd minute. Vagiannidis crossed, Arao headed the ball to Pellistri, who then turned it to Ingason, who shot diagonally. The ball went past the HJK goalkeeper, and before Jeremejeff could score in front of an empty net, Toivio put his foot down, inadvertently sending the ball into his team’s net.

The only moment when Helsinki became a threat during the first half was recorded in the 22nd minute, when Möller went out alone against Lodygin. However, Schenkeveld effectively stopped him with an impressive sprint.

Panathinaikos reached 2-0 in the 54th minute after a high pass from Djuricic and a pass into the box to Mladenovic, who entered from the left, shot but again Nijhuis blocked. In the 55th minute, another chance was missed with Maksimovic and Bakasetas pressing high and stealing the ball. However, Jeremejeff ’s shot from the height of the penalty area ended up in the opponent’s goalkeeper.

In the 79th minute, the Greens sent the ball into the net but Cerin’s clean shot did not count. From a corner kick by Tete, the ball reached the Slovenian, who shot immediately. The ball clearly crossed the goal line and then moved away from Foster, but neither the referee nor the assistant noticed the goal!

In the 83rd minute, Panathinaikos had another lost one-on-one with Jeremejeff, who received Tete’s pass but was defeated by Nijhuis, who prevented the goal, and in the 95th minute by Tete, who avoided three opponents, stepped into the area but the place ended up in the arms of the Dutch goalkeeper.

Previously, against the flow of the match, Helsinki threatened in the 91st minute with a backheel from Meriluoto that went just wide of Lodygin’s left post.

Panathinaikos: Lodygin, Vagiannidis, Mladenovic, Ingason, Schenkeveld, Arao, Maksimovic (69’ Cerin), Bakasetas (81’ Ounahi), Pellistri (81’ Mancini), Djuricic (69’ Tete), Jeremejeff (85’ Ioannidis).

HJK: Nijhuis, Antzoulas, Toivio (68’ Foster), O’Shaughnessy, Kanellopoulos, Kokcu (68’ Lingman), Ylitolva, Pallas (68’ Bande), Moller (75’ Mentu), Hostikka (85’ Meriluoto), Erwin.