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Karagounis Strike Sends Panathinaikos Into Last 16
It was a night to remember for Greek and Cypriot football in Athens, where a celebration of football took place while a city mourned...
10-Dec-2008 3:08:09 AM
For 90 minutes, football transcended the social ills that Greece has suffered over the past few days, as the nation’s traditional European darling Panathinaikos secured its passage into the Last 16 of the UEFA Champions League with a 1-0 win over Anorthosis Famagusta in Athens.
Surrounded by a society that has largely crumbled under the weight of the violence and anarchy caused by the shooting of 15 year-old schoolboy Alexandros Grigoropoulos by police on Saturday, Henk Ten Cate’s team rose to momentarily bring some joy to a strong crowd at the nation’s Olympic Stadium.
Giorgios Karagounis’ second-half strike was enough to give the Greeks a victory that means they have finished at the top of Group B, a quite stunning finish to a group stage campaign that began with two disheartening losses.
Temuri Ketsbaia’s side, meanwhile, miss out on UEFA Cup football after Werder Bremen managed to beat Inter at home, bringing to an end what has been a historic European campaign by the Cypriot champions.
First Half
With the OAKA Spiros Louis Stadium virtually full despite the riots that have almost destroyed the city centre of Athens and plagued Greece for the past three days, Panathinaikos set about quickly to give their supporters an escape from recent tragedies.
Restored to his natural position as a right full-back, Greek defender Loukas Vyntra responded with a superb cross for international teammate Alexandros Tziolis, who headed powerfully over Arian Becaj’s crossbar after just two minutes.
Anorthosis were barely able to get a touch on the ball in the opening stages, Panathinaikos Giorgios Karagounis particularly lively in midfield and almost scoring with a free-kick that he himself won on six minutes, Becaj tipping his superb free-kick away from the top let-hand corner of the net.
With the Cypriots simply overwhelmed, it was Tziolis again posing an aerial threat just three minutes later, intelligently heading a Kargounis corner back across the face of goal, only to see it hacked clear.
Despite their particularly fluid start, Panathinaikos almost conceded what would have been a disastrous goal on 15 minutes.
Iraqi striker Hawar Taher missed a wonderful chance to give his side the lead after some good work by left-winger Vincent Laban.
The Frenchman found space out wide before sending a superb low cross across the face of goal for his unmarked teammate, who skied over a virtually open goal from inside the six-yard box.
It was a move that seemed to galvanize Temuri Ketsbaia’s side, who worked their way back into the contest and began to maintain possession more comfortably, former Portsmouth midfielder Giannis Skopelitis firing wide after having the ball drop to him outside the box.
As ever though, Ten Cate’s outfit were the dominant attacking force, Simao senting a rasping volley well over the crossbar before the typically elusive Karagounis cut inside from the left touchline before seeing his effort brush the side-netting of Beqaj’s goal.
Largely frustrated by their typically resolute opponents, Panathinaikos’ final chance of the half arrived on 38 minutes, when Brazilian midfielder Cleyton slipped lone striker Vaggelis Mantzios into the area.
His side’s top scorer in the Champions League this season, the striker who spent last season on-loan in the bundesliga perhaps should have scored from an angle, his weak effort saved by the feet of Beqaj.
Second Half
Despite having survived a first half where they were largely outplayed, Anorthosis suffered a huge loss just before the break when Greece international and Champions League veteran Traianos Dellas pulled up with a hamstring injury.
The towering stopper has lead Ketsbaia’s defence superbly since his summer move from AEK Athens and produced a towering display at the OAKA Spiros Louis before being forced off at half-time.
In the wake of his absence, the increasingly dangerous Cleyton combined well with Mantzios after just six minutes to find himself in the area and facing only ‘keeper Zoltan Nagy – who replaced Beqaj at the interval – only for the substitute to close him down and save well.
Centre-back Ioannis Goumas was the next to profit from the selfless work of Mantzios, seeing his effort from the striker’s knock-down deflect just side of Nagy’s right post.
With the pace of the game increasing and both sides beginning to find more space with the ball, Karagounis took advantage of some loose marking to send his driven effort well wide from outside the penalty box, with an end product still absent from Panathinaikos’ possession.
It was almost delivered on 63 minutes after a good passing move by the hosts however, Tziolis at the heart of its beginning and end, eventually sliding a perfectly weighted ball for Mantzios into the area, the striker’s weak effort saved comfortably by Nagy from an angle.
Unfortunately for the Anorthosis ‘keeper, it was his mistake on 69 minutes that contributed to the Greek side’s opening goal.
Substitute Dimitris Salpiggidis managed to deliver a cross from the right flank after some positive work, before seeing it fall to Bardon inside the area.
Unaware of the lurking Karagounis, the Frenchman made a fatal error by trying to touch the ball off to Skopelitis, allowing the Panathinaikos captain to steal possession just inside the penalty box, sidestepping Skopelitis before seeing his swerving effort fumbled over the line by the ‘keeper.
Visibly stunned by the goal, Anorthosis struggled to muster an attacking response to a street-savvy Pana side, who held on comfortably to end the superb European campaign of the Cypriots and confirm their own place in the knockout stages of European football's premier club competition.
Panathinaikos 1 (69’ Karagounis)
Anorthosis Famagusta 0
Line-ups:
Panathinaikos: Galinovic, Goumas, Sarriegi, Spyropoulos, Vyntra, Gilberto, Cleyton (65’ Salpiggidis), Karagounis (93’ Ivanschitz), Simao, Tziolis, Mantzios (82’ Rukavina)
Anorthosis: Beqaj (46’ Nagy), Katsavakis, Dellas (46’ Froussos), Nikolaou, Dobrasinovic, Skopelitis, Leiwakabessy, Taher, Laban, A. Constantinou, Bardon
Chris Paraskevas, Goal.com
Surrounded by a society that has largely crumbled under the weight of the violence and anarchy caused by the shooting of 15 year-old schoolboy Alexandros Grigoropoulos by police on Saturday, Henk Ten Cate’s team rose to momentarily bring some joy to a strong crowd at the nation’s Olympic Stadium.
Giorgios Karagounis’ second-half strike was enough to give the Greeks a victory that means they have finished at the top of Group B, a quite stunning finish to a group stage campaign that began with two disheartening losses.
Temuri Ketsbaia’s side, meanwhile, miss out on UEFA Cup football after Werder Bremen managed to beat Inter at home, bringing to an end what has been a historic European campaign by the Cypriot champions.
First Half
With the OAKA Spiros Louis Stadium virtually full despite the riots that have almost destroyed the city centre of Athens and plagued Greece for the past three days, Panathinaikos set about quickly to give their supporters an escape from recent tragedies.
Restored to his natural position as a right full-back, Greek defender Loukas Vyntra responded with a superb cross for international teammate Alexandros Tziolis, who headed powerfully over Arian Becaj’s crossbar after just two minutes.
Anorthosis were barely able to get a touch on the ball in the opening stages, Panathinaikos Giorgios Karagounis particularly lively in midfield and almost scoring with a free-kick that he himself won on six minutes, Becaj tipping his superb free-kick away from the top let-hand corner of the net.
With the Cypriots simply overwhelmed, it was Tziolis again posing an aerial threat just three minutes later, intelligently heading a Kargounis corner back across the face of goal, only to see it hacked clear.
Despite their particularly fluid start, Panathinaikos almost conceded what would have been a disastrous goal on 15 minutes.
Iraqi striker Hawar Taher missed a wonderful chance to give his side the lead after some good work by left-winger Vincent Laban.
The Frenchman found space out wide before sending a superb low cross across the face of goal for his unmarked teammate, who skied over a virtually open goal from inside the six-yard box.
It was a move that seemed to galvanize Temuri Ketsbaia’s side, who worked their way back into the contest and began to maintain possession more comfortably, former Portsmouth midfielder Giannis Skopelitis firing wide after having the ball drop to him outside the box.
As ever though, Ten Cate’s outfit were the dominant attacking force, Simao senting a rasping volley well over the crossbar before the typically elusive Karagounis cut inside from the left touchline before seeing his effort brush the side-netting of Beqaj’s goal.
Largely frustrated by their typically resolute opponents, Panathinaikos’ final chance of the half arrived on 38 minutes, when Brazilian midfielder Cleyton slipped lone striker Vaggelis Mantzios into the area.
His side’s top scorer in the Champions League this season, the striker who spent last season on-loan in the bundesliga perhaps should have scored from an angle, his weak effort saved by the feet of Beqaj.
Second Half
Despite having survived a first half where they were largely outplayed, Anorthosis suffered a huge loss just before the break when Greece international and Champions League veteran Traianos Dellas pulled up with a hamstring injury.
The towering stopper has lead Ketsbaia’s defence superbly since his summer move from AEK Athens and produced a towering display at the OAKA Spiros Louis before being forced off at half-time.
In the wake of his absence, the increasingly dangerous Cleyton combined well with Mantzios after just six minutes to find himself in the area and facing only ‘keeper Zoltan Nagy – who replaced Beqaj at the interval – only for the substitute to close him down and save well.
Centre-back Ioannis Goumas was the next to profit from the selfless work of Mantzios, seeing his effort from the striker’s knock-down deflect just side of Nagy’s right post.
With the pace of the game increasing and both sides beginning to find more space with the ball, Karagounis took advantage of some loose marking to send his driven effort well wide from outside the penalty box, with an end product still absent from Panathinaikos’ possession.
It was almost delivered on 63 minutes after a good passing move by the hosts however, Tziolis at the heart of its beginning and end, eventually sliding a perfectly weighted ball for Mantzios into the area, the striker’s weak effort saved comfortably by Nagy from an angle.
Unfortunately for the Anorthosis ‘keeper, it was his mistake on 69 minutes that contributed to the Greek side’s opening goal.
Substitute Dimitris Salpiggidis managed to deliver a cross from the right flank after some positive work, before seeing it fall to Bardon inside the area.
Unaware of the lurking Karagounis, the Frenchman made a fatal error by trying to touch the ball off to Skopelitis, allowing the Panathinaikos captain to steal possession just inside the penalty box, sidestepping Skopelitis before seeing his swerving effort fumbled over the line by the ‘keeper.
Visibly stunned by the goal, Anorthosis struggled to muster an attacking response to a street-savvy Pana side, who held on comfortably to end the superb European campaign of the Cypriots and confirm their own place in the knockout stages of European football's premier club competition.
Panathinaikos 1 (69’ Karagounis)
Anorthosis Famagusta 0
Line-ups:
Panathinaikos: Galinovic, Goumas, Sarriegi, Spyropoulos, Vyntra, Gilberto, Cleyton (65’ Salpiggidis), Karagounis (93’ Ivanschitz), Simao, Tziolis, Mantzios (82’ Rukavina)
Anorthosis: Beqaj (46’ Nagy), Katsavakis, Dellas (46’ Froussos), Nikolaou, Dobrasinovic, Skopelitis, Leiwakabessy, Taher, Laban, A. Constantinou, Bardon
Chris Paraskevas, Goal.com
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