Panathinaikos wins epic semifinal shootout with PAOK
Panathinaikos emerged victorious from a rare Cup semifinal thriller against PAOK on Wednesday, snatching the ticket to the final in the penalty shootout having escaped elimination with the last kick of the extra time.
The first semifinal at Toumba had ended 1-0 in the Greens’ favor through an Andraz Sporar goal a week earlier, but PAOK was the better team in the second leg at the Apostolos Nikolaidis Stadium and won 1-0 after 90 minutes through an Andrija Zivkovic goal.
In extra time Panathinaikos pushed forward, but it was PAOK that scored again at the end of the first half of extra time with Tomasz Kedziora. The match stopped for a few minutes due to the head injury to Baba Rahman, with the PAOK player dropping unconscious before being stretchered off amid the home fans’ applause.
In the six minutes left, Panathinaikos threw everything at the PAOK goal and found an escape with a buzzer-beating shot by Dimitris Limnios, a former PAOK player, who made it 1-2 and forced the penalty shootout.
There was more drama there, with PAOK having three times the chance to win it, only to get denied on all three occasions by Panathinaikos keeper Bartlomiej Dragowski. The Polish goalie is the hero of the game for the Greens with his three saves.
Panathinaikos will face the winner of the other semifinal, between Aris and Panetolikos, to take place on March 6. Aris won the first leg at Agrinio 1-0.
