El Kaddouri keeps PAOK’s hopes alive
Marseille won the first leg 2-1 in France on Thursday
Omar El Kaddouri’s goal at the Velodrome in Marseille has given PAOK some hope of turning its Conference League quarterfinal tie with Olympique Marseille around and qualify to the semifinals of the new UEFA competition.
PAOK lost 2-1 on Thursday, but will feel it has revived its hopes given it had trailed 2-0 at half-time to goals by Gerson and Dimitri Payet.
Barely three minutes into the second half Andrija Zivkovic set up El Kaddouri and he scored PAOK’s goal to keep alive the qualification hopes of the sole Greek team left in Europe.
Goalkeeper Alexandros Paschalakis was also instrumental in keeping PAOK in the tie, with his saves.
Marseille ended the game with 10 men, as scorer Gerson received his marching orders in injury time.
The second leg is taking place in Thessaloniki on April 14 and it is expected to be played in front of a capacity crowd.
The match was marred both before and during the game by clashes between the home fans and PAOK supporters. Several fans and at least six police officers have got injured, according to reports.
