Despodov helped PAOK save themselves from an embarrassing loss, the title is now a mirage

The crisis at PAOK (Thessaloniki) is clearly not over after the team finished 1:1 away to Lamia in a meeting of the 7th round of the play-off for the title of the Greek championship. And the meeting could even have ended with a victory for the modest team, if Kiril Despodov had not saved the guests from defeat with a perfect assist in added time.

Thus, after 32 games, PAOK remains in 3rd place with 68 points, 3 behind 2nd placed Panathinaikos and 4 behind leaders AEK, with the two teams in question meeting later today at the St. Sophia Stadium. Today’s result further reduced PAOK’s chances for the title, but it may also put the stepping on the ladder of honor at the end of the season under serious question.

The excellent Lamia team earned their first point in the title playoff, where they are firmly in the last 6th place with 35 points. They even came within a breath of their first ever win against this opponent, despite playing without one of their stars Tsilulis and also with a rather emergency line-up in the center of defence.

They were a man down in stoppage time due to a red card for substitute Pedro Amaral. Vikintas Slivka, who left earlier, also saw a red card from the bench. He opened the scoring in the 45+1 minute after a pass from the Albanian Florissard Malchi. In the 10th minute of added time of the match, Kiril Despodov made a perfect cross on the head of Stefan Schbaw and the Austrian midfielder became the scorer.

The Bulgarian winger stayed on the pitch throughout and is one of the few players in the PAOK squad who has nothing to be ashamed of. PAOK came into the game aggressively and with the support of the fans and even before the first minute was up, Schwab’s header from a Despodov corner almost turned into a goal. In the 7th minute, a nice attack ended with a pass from Despodov to Marcos Antonio, but the Brazilian did not make it difficult for the home goalkeeper Koshelev.

In the 15th minute it was Despodov’s turn to shoot. He received the ball in the penalty area, went diagonally, but Yorgos Yanoutzas was standing on the goal line and took a corner kick.

PAOK’s pressure continued until the end of the first half. In the 44th minute, Despodov won a free kick and crossed himself on the head of Tomas Kedziora, whose shot forced the goalkeeper Andrey Koshelev to save the ball for a corner. In one of the few counterattacks, however, a mistake in the center of the defense allowed Slivka to come out alone against the goalkeeper Dominik Kotarski and the Lithuanian on the diagonal opened the score.

The second half was no different and the situations in front of Koshelev were lined up one after another. One of the best opportunities to equalize was missed by Yanis Mihailidis, who was headed by Despodov in the 10th meter. However, Mihailidis failed to take advantage of the Bulgarian’s cross. Salvation came in the 10th minute of added time, when Schwab this time dealt with the goalkeeper after another excellent pass by the Bulgarian winger.

The situation for the coach Razvan Lucescu after this result is not particularly good, since the team has already been without a win for three games. It will not be surprising that this Sunday’s PAOK – AEK match will be his last if it does not end with home success.