Panathinaikos has finished the opening stage of the UEFA Conference League in style, securing a dominant win over Dinamo Minsk to officially confirm their place in the knockout phase play-offs as a seeded club.
The “Trifylli” downed the Belarussian club 3-0 at the Olympic Stadium on Monday morning (AEDT) in the sixth and final matchday of the competition’s League Phase, moving up to finish in 13th place with ten points.
The Greens went in front in the 33rd minute after midfielder Azzedine Ounahi found Giannis Kotsiras down the right side, with the right back drilling the ball across goal for striker Alexander Jeremejeff to tap in.
Panathinaikos doubled their advantage early into the second period when Tete was played through on goal by Ounahi, with the winger hitting it into the bottom right (53′).
Tete soon bagged his second of the game with another composed strike into the same corner (65′), with the Brazilian later squandering a golden chance to bag a hat-trick when he had his penalty saved by goalkeeper Fedor Lapoukhov in the bottom right.
Captain Fotis Ioannidis made up for Tete’s miss moments later when he saw Lapoukhov off his line, with the striker lobbing the ball from well outside the box into the goal to delight the Panathinaikos fans in attendance.
Paphos struck at the death to earn a 2-2 draw away to FC Lugano, finishing in 12th position on ten points.
The Cypriot side went ahead first in the fourth minute after midfielder Pedro Rodrigues’ curling shot hit the right post, with the ball then deflecting off the back of goalkeeper Amir Saipi into the net.
The Swiss club cancelled it out minutes later via midfielder Hadj Mahmoud (7′) and they soon after took the lead themselves through a strike from winger Mattia Bottani (33′).
The game looked destined to finish as a loss for Pafos, but they managed to steal a point at the death as centre half David Goldar headed the ball in from a free kick (90+5′).
APOEL was forced to settle for a 1-1 home draw against Astana in a testy contest that finished with ten players on the field for each side.
The hosts took the ascendency in the clash in the 56th minute when winger Anastasios Donis guided the ball into the bottom right with a grounded long shot.
The Kazakh outfit equalised quickly after via a corner header by defender Kipras Kazukolovas (64′), though their elation was short-lived as they fell a player behind one minute later when midfielder Max Obong received his second yellow of the game.
Astana’s disadvantage did not last long, however, as APOEL also suffered a red card to Giannis Satsias, with the midfielder earning two bookings in the span of seconds (the latter awarded for dissent against the referee).
The result means APOEL finish the League Phase in 11th place with 11 points, securing a seeded spot in the knockout phase play-offs
Omonia played out a 0-0 away draw with Borac Banja Luka, finishing in 22nd place with 7 points to also secure a place in the next stage.
