Olympiakos triumphs, PAOK saves face and Panathinaikos sinks
Olympiakos scored a precious away win in Sweden on Thursday, PAOK salvaged a point through a last-ditch effort, while Panathinaikos suffered a bad loss at home, on a very busy night of European soccer.
The Conference League holder beat host Malmoe 1-0 away for its second win in three games at the League Phase of the Europa League.
The Reds had a great first half, with Gelson Martins finding Ayoub El Kaabi on the half-hour mark and the Moroccan scoring the sole goal of the game. El Kaabi missed a second-half penalty, but Olympiakos preserved its lead till the end.
For the same competition PAOK came from 2-0 down to snatch a 2-2 draw in Thessaloniki against Viktoria Plzen.
The Czech team led with goals from Milan Havel and Matej Vydra before half-time. The turning point of the match was the red card shown to Viktoria’s Sampson Dweh, with 20 minutes on the clock. PAOK made the most of that, with Tarik Tissoudali and Abdul Rahman Baba scoring for the Greeks, the equalizer coming on the 93rd.
Panathinaikos on the other hand, could do nothing about the might of Chelsea, going down 4-1 to its English visitor for the Conference League at a packed Olympic Stadium.
After a good first 20 minutes for the Greens, Joao Felix scored twice for the Blues, and along with goals by Mykhailo Mudryk and Christopher Nkunku they completed the rout of Panathinaikos, that only managed to pull one back with Facundo Pelistri.
