Both AEK and PAOK will go into next week’s Europa League play-off second legs with an advantage from the home legs on Thursday.
AEK beat Dinamo Tbilisi 1-0 of Georgia at the Olympic Stadium in Athens while PAOK overcame Karpaty of Ukraine 2-0 in Thessaloniki.
The goals for PAOK came early in both halves. Striker Stefanos Athanasiadis struck on 15 minutes and Brazilian defender Lino doubled the lead in the 57th minute to give Laszlo Boloni’s men a cushion ahead of their trip to the Ukraine.
Things were not so comfortable for AEK who had to wait until the 88th minute for what may prove to be a crucial goal. Spanish midfielder Jose Carlos grabbed the goal with a header on his debut in competitive football for the Yellows.
Panathinaikos suffered a humiliating 3-0 loss at Maccabi Tel Aviv for the first leg of the Europa League playoffs on August 18, to see thir chances of reaching the group stage all but evaporate.
The Greens had a decent first half at the Bloomfield Stadium in Israel but made nothing out of the three or four good chances that fell to Toche and Quincy Owusu-Abeyie.
The return legs for both teams are on August 25.
(source: sport in greece)
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