Olympiacos and PAOK are in good positions to make the group stages in the Europa League and Europa Conference League (ECL) respectively this season after securing wins in the first leg of the play-offs round.
A dominant first half gave the Piraeus giants the foundation for their 3-1 victory at “Georgios Karaiskakis” Stadium against FK Cukaricki in the first leg of the Europa League play-offs on Friday morning (AEST).
The “red-whites” began very strong, going ahead three minutes in through a tap-in from striker Ayoub El Kaabi, and captain Kostas Fortounis doubled their lead soon after with a powerful effort into the top left side of the net (15′).
Fortounis then delivered a cross which El Kaabi headed into the goal (40′) to go three-nil up at the break.
The Serbian team got a goal back at the death through substitute Igor Mladinovic (90+3′) to keep themselves in the tie, though Olympiacos looks to be in prime position for a Europa League berth.
PAOK recorded a huge 1-2 away success over Hearts of Midlothian in the ECL play-offs to strongly boost their odds of making Europe.
The Scottish side took the lead early, thanks to a penalty from Lawrence Shankland into the bottom left (9′), though PAOK equalised almost immediately after with their own spot-kick from Stefan Schwab, who buried his attempt into the bottom right (12′).
Winger Andrija Zivkovic then stepped up for the Thessaloniki team with a magnificent strike from range that sailed into the bottom left corner (75′) for what proved to be the winning goal of the clash.
Both Panathinaikos and AEK fell short in the first leg of the Champions League play-offs, setting up some must-win situations for next week’s deciding matches in Greece.
Panathinaikos lost 2-1 away to Braga in the first leg of the Champions League play-offs on Thursday morning, with Daniel Mancini’s late goal keeping them in the tie.
The Portuguese outfit went ahead 51 minutes into the contest through striker Abel Ruiz, who cleverly struck the ball along the ground from range into the bottom left.
Greens forward Andraz Sporar squandered a golden opportunity to equalise by missing the target from tap-in range, and Braga made them pay soon after as forward Alvaro Djalo released a thunderous shot that sailed towards the roof of the net (73′).
Panathinaikos’ Champions League dreams seemed to be all but over when substitute Fotis Ioannidis delivered an excellent pass to put Mancini one-on-one with the goalkeeper, with the Argentinean winger expertly putting it into the bottom right (90+5′).
That goal gives the “Trifylli” hope heading into next week’s decider.
AEK lost 1-0 away to Antwerp on Wednesday morning in a disappointing but not devastating result.
The Belgian champions found what proved to be the winning goal early into the game via striker Vincent Janssen, who guided the ball into the bottom left with a composed finish (16′).
Enosi played well and dominated for large periods of the game but proved unable to grab an equaliser.
Antwerp will be left very pleased with the win, particularly given they held on for 40 minutes with only ten men after right back Jelle Bataille’s red card for a studs up challenge on AEK’s Mijat Gacinovic (50′).
Aris Limassol lost 2-1 away in the first leg of their Europa League play-offs tie with SK Slovan Bratislava on Friday morning.
The Slovakian side went in front in the 34th minute through a finish from midfielder Marko Tolic before forward David Strelec made it two after pouncing on the ball following a save by goalkeeper Vana Alves (57′).
Winger Mihlali Mayambela got a goal back for the Cypriot champions, tapping the ball into an empty net following a rapid attack that saw a teammate’s shot creep underneath goalkeeper Milan Borjan and travel into his direction (73′).
APOEL’s European chances look very unlikely as they fell 2-0 away to KAA Gent in the first leg of their ECL tie.
The hosts procured the win after a late surge saw them produce two goals in the last 15 minutes of play.
Their first came through a fortunate bit of play as substitute Malick Fofana’s strike took a major deflection off a defender to loop over the goalkeeper and into the net (77′).
Attacking midfielder Hyeon-seok Hong then produced a phenomenal volley from just inside the box that raced into the bottom right (90+2′), giving his team a healthy two-goal advantage heading into the second leg.
