Panathinaikos 1-4: Double after six years in Tripoli with four goals and a goal by Ioannidis

Panathinaikos, after the “curse” in “Zosimadis”, also broke the “curse” of Tripoli and surpassed Arcadia by two, beating Asteras 4-1 with Fotis Ioannidis continuing to score and shine, as the Greek striker scored two goals in the 17th minute, as he came on as a substitute in the 73rd minute of the match. Ioannidis’ second goal was very impressive as he beat Papadopoulos from a very difficult position and completely to the side.

The Greens, who also saw Aarau-Verbeek score, Sporar miss a penalty and hit the post and had plenty of chances, achieved third place out of three this year in the province as they won in both Agrinio and Ioannina.

The Shamrocks endured a poor spell of 60-70 but managed to score the third and fourth goals to secure a comfortable four-goal win on a difficult home turf.

With nine changes to the lineup

Panathinaikos went to Tripoli and came down with nine new faces in the eleven. It is characteristic that Jovanovic left Brignoli out of the squad, with the Italian goalkeeper absent to rest.

Only Kotsiras and Djuricits were the two green players who were in the starting line-up against AEK and they were 11th in Tripoli as well.

Panathinaikos played Lodingen under the goalposts. On the right flank was Kotsiras who was also the captain of Clover and on the left was Mladenovic. At centre-back, there are two summer signings, Jedvay and Palmer-Brown. In front of them was Arao, with Serin next to him, and in front of the trio, Verbeek Palacios and Djuricic, with Sporar at the front of the attack.

On the other hand, home team Milan Rastavacs did not have many new faces in their lineup regarding their win over Volos as the experienced technician wanted to ‘strike’ with the same team in the match against Panathinaikos.

The goals in the first final for both teams were 1-1 early

Both Panathinaikos and Asteras managed to score a goal in their first final match. First, Clover scored a goal in the fifth minute through Arau. Mladenovic executed a free kick won by the Greens from outside the area. The Brazilian found the ball with his chest, changed its course and sent it into the net in favor of Panathinaikos 0-1.

But two minutes later, Asteras managed to equalize and return the match to a draw. On Alvarez’s cross from the left side, Kaltsas beat Mladenovic in the air and sent the ball into Lodingen’s net, making the score 1-1 in Arkadi.

The next good moment for Panathinaikos came in the 24th minute with Araús again. The Serbian full-back took a free kick from the left flank with the Brazilian getting a header and sending the ball wide.

Great counterattack and goal from Verbeek

Panathinaikos, which controlled the match, was able to score the second goal in the 31st minute of the match after a beautiful attack. Palacios received the ball from the right side, sent a beautiful cross to the second post, with Verbeek following the stage, and with the drop, he sent the ball into the sky of Nikos Papadopoulos’ goal, in favor of Panathinaikos 2-1.

Sporar missed a penalty kick

The Greens won a penalty kick in stoppage time in the first 45 minutes and could have scored the third goal. Bartolo Kotsiras fell to the ground and the referee awarded the penalty kick. Sporar took on the task of executing him but was beaten by Papadopoulos who pulled away with a brilliant save. The ball again reached the Slovenian, who tried to beat Papadopoulos with a shot, but the Greek goalkeeper touched the ball again and sent it to the crossbar.

The second half began with a change for Panathinaikos, as Shinkfield came on for Palmer-Brown, who suffered a knock in the first 45 minutes.

Continuing opportunities for Panathinaikos

Ivan Jovanovic’s players tried to score the third goal to achieve the victory. In the 48th minute, Sporar found himself in the penalty area and shot a powerful shot, but Papadopoulos blocked the ball strongly again. Seven minutes later Clover threatened again. Nice development from the left flank as Mladenovic was the last recipient to shoot the ball from inside the box and Papadopoulos cleared a corner kick.

In the 60th minute, Panathinaikos again approached the goal through Palacios. The Argentine made a beautiful move inside the area and shot Papadopoulos again to block the ball.

Asteras, who were unable to threaten in the first half, managed to score again in the 69th minute through Kaltsa, but before the Greek striker could shoot, the ball was in his hand and the 2-2 tie was canceled out by the referee and VAR. Nothing changed.

Two goals in 13 minutes by Ioannidis and Clover 4-1

Ivan Jovanovic revitalized his side when he brought Ioannidis into the game for Sporar in the 73rd minute. Six minutes later Djuricic made a fine move to turn over inside the penalty area. The referee awarded the penalty kick and Ioannidis took the ball into the net, making the score 3-1.

The best goal of the match came in the 87th minute. Ioannidis received the ball from the left side, saw Papadopoulos offside and tried a shot long and wide to the left with his left foot and sent the ball into the net.

Asteras Tripoli (Milan Rastavac): Papadopoulos, Carmona, Alvarez, Castagno, Christopoulos, Grozdanek (Surles 61′), Monafo (Diarra 77′), Regis, Bartolo (Zouglis 77′), Kaltsas, Meritylos (61′ Mantsis).

Panathinaikos (Ivan Jovanovic): Ludingen, Kutsras, Palmer-Brown (46′ Sinkeveld), Gidvai (84′ Perez), Mladenovic, Cerin, Aarau, Djuricic, Verbeek (Mancini 66), Palacios (74′ Felina), Sporar (73′ Sporar).