A penalty goal in the 90th minute by Greek international Fotis Ioannidis gave Panathinaikos FC a lifeline despite losing 2-1 to Iceland’s Víkingur Reykjavík in Finland, Thursday night in the first leg of the UEFA Conference League knock-out stage.
The Greeks conceded a goal in each half (12’ and 56)’ and will now try to turn the one-goal deficit around in the return leg in Athens next week at the OAKA stadium.
Despite the “greens” putting on a lackluster performance in the freezing conditions at the Bolt Arena football stadium in Helsinki (the Icelandic team’s home field did not meet UEFA standards) they had six more shots (15) at the goal compared to the Icelandic teams (9) and had ball possession.
The Greek team was also unlucky as two key players, Greek international midfielder Tasos Bakasetas and center-back Palmer Brown exited the pitch with injuries in the first half.
In a post-match interview, the scorer of Panathinaikos FC Fotis Ioannidis sought no excuses for the team’s showing saying the squad had to work out what went wrong and come up with a solution.
