PAOK Ease To Victory In Crete

It was the perfect start for manager Fernando Santos and his PAOK players, who last season were plagued by their poor away form in the league, missing out on the chance of European football and finishing ninth. It was a horror start, however, for new OFI head coach František Straka, whose new look side included four summer signings, three of whom were from Panathinaikos.

The first major task of one of those signings – goalkeeper Arkadiusz Malarz, who has been loaned from the Athenian giants – would be to pick the ball up out of the back of the net inside the opening ten minutes of the match.

Former Real Madrid man and Uruguay international Pablo Garcia – one of PAOK’s high-profile summer acquisitions – curled in a free-kick from outside the box and OFI’s defence failed to head the ball clear, allowing it to fall kindly for Antonio. The Brazilian defender delicately lifted the ball over Malarz and into the back of the net to give his side an early lead.

Santos handed competitive debuts to eight of his new signings, reflecting what has been a highly successful off-season recruitment drive by the Dikefalos tou Vorra and one that, on the basis of the quality of the second goal, could be the catalyst for a northern renaissance.

Conceicao’s superb 41st minute volley might be remembered for its classy finish but, even in Round One of the Greek Super League, should be considered a contender for the best team goal of the season. Some wonderful one-touch passing movement out of midfield saw PAOK work the ball to the right touch-line, where it was curled in towards Muslimovic inside the penalty area. The former Serie A striker chested the ball down for Conceicao, who from just outside the box controlled the ball before producing a dipping volley into the top right-hand corner of the net.

It was a positive start to the new campaign for a resurgent PAOK side, who will now prepare for a massive home game against AEK Athens next weekend. For an OFI outfit who narrowly avoided relegation last season, improvement is definitely needed as they prepare for another potentially difficult campaign in the top flight of Greek football.


OFI Crete — 0
PAOK — 2 (Marcos Antonio 8’, Conceicao 41’)


Line-ups:

OFI: Malarz, Taralidis (74’ Roubakis), Pitsos, Simic, Popovic (59’ Kostovski), Stavrakakis, Dimoutsos, Venetis, Kounenakis, N’Doye, Herrera (46’ Sfakianakis)

PAOK: Chalkias, Marcos Antonio, Konstantinidis, Contreras, Vieirinha (80’ Lakis), Ivic, Veron, Conceicao, Sznaucner, Muslimovic (91’ Athanasiadis), Garcia (46’ Balafas)


Chris Paraskevas