Yes, PAOK did start the game by pressing high up the pitch, but Panathinaikos quickly closed down the spaces, and showed their strength with some tough tackles (with Djuricic getting booked as early in the fourth minute). Apart from one Lovren header in the ninth minute, PAOK did not register another effort on goal.

On the contrary, Panathinaikos almost scored a goal when in the 13th minute Siopis fired in a shot which hit the crossbar before bouncing to safety. The home team, of course, then found a way to get in front in the 20th minute, with Kyriakopoulos passing from the left and Padovic moving in behind the visiting defense and to score from close range for 1-0.

The Double-headed Eagle continued to try and break down the Greens’ defence and in the 25th minute, Konstantelias found Giakoumakis nicely, but he failed to connect and the opportunity was lost.

Two minutes later, it was Tsiftsis’ turn to push Tete’s shot on to the post. And while PAOK failed to find the spaces that would allow them to become more of a threat, in the 31st minute, Jedvaj fired in a snapshot from the edge of the penalty area and the ball went in via a deflection off Meite to make it 2-0.

In the last quarter of the half, PAOK became more mobile, although showing anxiety in their play, perhaps to some extent influenced by some tough marking, such as that of Siopis on Konstantelias in the 40th minute. The fact is, however, that until the end of the four minutes of injury time, PAOK failed to threaten in any significant way…

After the break, PAOK had no choice but to find some composure and try to circulate the ball better. In their usual way, PAOK did that to good effect, and in the 51st minute came close to a goal after Baba and Despodov combined to set up Giakoumakis , but ultimately he could only win a corner kick. In the same phase of play, Panathinaikos then went on the counter-attack after Konstantelias lost the ball, but Ozdoev made an impressive last-ditch tackle to deny the home side a scoring chance.

On the hour mark, Lucescu sent Bianco on in place of Ozdoev and Taison instead of Despodov . Taison, just a minute later, found Konstantelias inside the penalty area, and the Greek ace twisted past Jedvaj stylishly before curling a right-footed shot into the far corner to reduce the deficit to 2-1.

In the 69th minute, Taison shot from the side trhe box with the ball going out of play and PAOK began to dominate the game, having 70% of the possession. Unfortunately, however, in the 75th minute, Konstantelias slumped to the turf and was unable to continue due to injury, just when it seemed that the visitors had the momemtum. Ivanusec , who replaced Konstantelias , found himself in a good shooting position in the 80th minute, after a nice exchange of play between Chalov  and Kenny , but his shot went high over the crossbar.

More promising chances followed, but neither Chalov , Taison or Zivkovic could capitalise.

The pace of the game then dropped, with PAOK giving their all, but ultimately failing to get the equalizer. On the contrary, the visitors almost conceded a third goal in added time, but Kedziora caught up with Mancini to stop his effort at the last moment.

The break for international matches and the necessary breather for PAOK follows, until 23.11 and Matchday 11, when PAOK welcomes Kifissia at the Toumba Stadium.

Team lineups:

Panathinaikos: Lafon, Kyriakopoulos (50′ Mladenovic), Jedvaj, Touba, Palmer-Brown, Siopis (74′ Cerin), Tsiriveja, Djuricic (84′ Pelistri), Tete (74′ Bakasetas), Zarury, Padovic (84′ Mancini).PAOK: Tsiftsis, Kenny, Baba, Kedziora, Lovren, Meite, Ozdoev (58′ Bianco), Despodov (58′ Taison), Konstantelias (75′ lt. Ivanusec), A. Zivkovic, Giakoumakis (67′ Chalov).