Panathinaikos and Botev (Plovdiv) ended their meeting of the second qualifying round with a score of 2:1 round of the Europa League, reported sportal.bg.
Yeremeyef (8) gave the home team the lead, and Bakasetas (44) doubled from the penalty spot. Koroshets (70) returned a goal for Botev minutes after appearing in the game. The Olympic Stadium in the Greek capital Antina hosted the clash, which was very intriguing. In the previous round, the people of Plovdiv dealt with Slovenia's Maribor, and the appetite comes with the food.
Botev dreams of success in the second leg, after which Dusan Kerkez's players will guarantee themselves two matches with the Dutch Ajax. If defeated by Panathinaikos, however, Botev will have two more matches in the Conference League tournament.
For Botev, the only one missing was the injured Atanas Chernev. About 100 bultras supported the team in today's clash.
From a seemingly harmless situation, the home team from Greece took the lead in the 8th minute. Kicked ball in forward positions by the "canaries" was met by Mladenovic. The defender simply played the ball back into Botev's half, but a great lead-in was produced for Yeremeyef, who broke free from the last defender Yonai Tamm and slotted the ball past Matvei Igonen.
In the 13th minute, the situation for Botev could have been further complicated. Mancini broke through on the right flank of the Panathinaikos attack and passed brilliantly into the area between the goalkeeper and Botev's defence. Yeremeyef stretched his leg there, but shot over the goal.
In the 17th minute, Nikolay Minkov broke through on the right flank and saw the free Ivelin Popov in the penalty area of the Greeks. Popeto, without thinking, shot from the movement, but he could not get a good shot on the ball and it hit the goalkeeper Dragovski.
Yeremeyef continued to cause havoc in Botev's defense. In the 21st minute, Vaianidis crossed in the penalty area, and the striker tried to shoot from the movement. To the joy of Matvey Igonen, the ball went out.
In the 28th minute, a powerful shot by Antoine Conte from a long distance did not hinder Dragovski. In the 36th minute, Samuel Akere received a foul in the opponent's penalty area and after a slight contact with an opposing player fell to the ground. The people of Plovdiv asked for a penalty, but it was not awarded.
In the 37th minute, Djuricic easily entered Botev's penalty area, reached the touchline and looked up to find his teammate. Vilena was positioned on the second post, who shot, but Minkov cleared a little in front of the goal line.
In the 43rd minute, another mistake by Botev's defense was punished. This time, Jonas Tamm was late in his attempt to take the ball away from Djuricic. The defender kicked the attacker, and since the situation was in the penalty area, Panathinaikos got the right to execute a penalty. Bakasetas took pride in the performance, whose merciless shot stretched Matvei Igonen's net.
In the 53rd minute, Igonen made an important intervention after a powerful shot by Vaianidis, aimed at the lower right corner of the goal. Subsequently, Minkov cleared the ball in the corner.
In the 60th minute, Panathinaikos got a third goal, which was disallowed due to an offside. A player from the home team shot from close range, but the ball hit Yeremeyef, who was not in a regular position. Although Djuricic stretched the net, the goal was correctly disallowed.
Minutes after coming into the game in place of James Eto'o - Alain Koroshets scored his debut goal for Botev. This happened in the 70th minute, when Alen Koroshets took the ball and passed to the reserve Martin Sekulic, who returned parallel to his colleague, and the new addition of Plovdiv residents sent the ball into the net from a close distance to the goal line.
In the 77th minute, a jeweled performance by Djuricic ended with a shot on the crossbar of Botev.
In the 85th minute, Botev received a penalty. Ukaki took advantage of a wrong pass between the two central defenders, advanced quickly and entered the box. A contact with Dragovski followed and a signal for an 11-meter penalty kick. The VAR immediately intervened and the chief judge changed his decision, which made the staff of the Plovdiv people approach with derision.