Panathinaikos falls cruelly to Ajax after marathon penalty shootout
Source: NEOS KOSMOS
Panathinaikos won the battle but lost the war in Amsterdam after a thrilling game that needed 17 penalties from each side before Ajax finally emerged victorious in their Europa League tie.
The “Trifylli” managed to win the contest 0-1 in regular time at the Johan Cruyff Arena on Friday morning (AEST), levelling up the score 1-1 on aggregate and taking their third qualifying round battle to an epic penalty shootout that finished 13-12 in Ajax’s favour.
The Dutch giants had the best opportunities throughout the clash to extend their lead, though were unable to capitalise in the final third and leaving the Greens a glimmer of hope to equalise.
Panathinaikos eventually did exactly that as substitute Tete found the bottom right corner in the 89th minute to win the game and take the tie into extra time.
The following 30 minutes of play proved quite tame, not featuring many chances, but it was in the shoot-out when the match kicked into full gear.
Panathinaikos started immediately on the back foot when winger Daniel Mancini’s weak effort down the middle was saved by goalkeeper Remko Pasveer.
The rest of the penalties all went in, leading to Ajax’s fifth spot-kick wherein striker Brian Brobbey had the golden chance to score and win the tie when goalkeeper Bartlomiej Dragowski produced a crucial save in the bottom left to keep the Greens alive.
There were plenty of nervy moments in the subsequent spot-kicks, with Ajax’s Bertrand Traore missing the target to squander another chance to win the tie, and it was immediately followed by a save each from Pasveer and Dragowski.
The penalties went around the whole team, with the two keepers also stepping up and slotting away their kicks, when Pasveer saved Filip Mladenovic’s penalty on the right.
Brobbey again had the chance to win it and remarkably failed to seize it again, this time hitting the ball over the crossbar.
In cruel irony, Greens midfielder Tonny Vilhenna (who formerly played for Ajax’s arch-rival Feyenoord) gave the home fans a sweet moment to savour as Pasveer saved his second spot-kick of the shoot-out.
Rotating the initial order, defender Anton Gaaei went up a few spaces in the order to take his second penalty early in what proved to be a master stroke as he buried it into the back of the net to end the marathon shoot-out at 13-12.
It is an incredibly disappointing finish after an astounding achievement for Panathinaikos, beating Ajax in their own backyard and going the distance with them only to lose it in the cruellest of fashions.
Their attention now turns to Ligue 1 side RC Lens in the Europa Conference League (ECL) play-offs in the ultimate make-or-break scenario: win and qualify for Europe or lose and miss out entirely.
AEK defeated Noah Yerevan 1-0 in the second leg of the third qualifying round ECL tie, though it was not enough as they lost 3-2 on aggregate, ensuring they will not play any European football this campaign as a result.
Enosi pushed hard for goals the entire contest and the Armenian club withstanding the pressure.
It was not until the 90+2nd minute that AEK managed to break through their opponents’ defence in the form of an own goal from centre half Goncalo Silva.
The “yellow-blacks” left it too late and will now have to concentrate their efforts solely on the league and Greek Cup.
A last-minute goal in regular time helped Pafos overcome FC CSKA 1948, winning 4-0 after extra time (5-2 on aggregate) to advance in the ECL.
The Cypriot side were given a huge advantage near the end of the first period when Steve Furtado received a red card (45+2′).
The hosts did not truly reap the benefits of having an extra player on the field until they found a fortuitous goal in the 90+7th minute via defender Derrick Luckassen to level the tie on aggregate.
The match continued into extra time wherein Pafos seized control, scoring through forwards Jaja (94′) and Anderson (99′) before an own goal from Reyan Daskalov (117′) wrapped up the tie.
Pafos now joins fellow Cypriot side Omonia in the ECL play-offs where they will face CFR Cluj and Zira respectively.
The original article: NEOS KOSMOS .
belongs to