OFI beat PAOK on fewer shots, with a late penalty doing the damage

OFI 2-1 PAOK: the home side created far more than usual from less of the ball, and a penalty settled a match that Simon Banza nearly saved for PAOK.

Athanasios Androutsos's penalty, converted on 83 minutes, is what decided this match, and it came in a game where OFI had less of the ball than usual. Simon Banza pulled one back for PAOK six minutes later, but by then the home side had a two-goal lead that the penalty had given them. Nobody was sent off, so the penalty was not the product of a numerical advantage, and both sides played eleven against eleven throughout.

The more striking figure is how much OFI created with the ball they had. They held 42% of possession, below their usual 47.6%, yet they took 12 shots, up on their normal 9. Measured by expected goals, a score for how good each chance was, their chances were worth far more than they usually are, and the gap between their usual level and this one is large enough to matter.

PAOK were the mirror image. They had 58% of the ball, well above their usual 48.4%, and took 26 shots against a normal 13.8. Their expected goals total was also above their own average, yet the chances produced only a single goal before the late reply. Eight of their shots were on target, and the OFI goalkeeper made seven saves, keeping the margin at one goal for most of the second half.

Taxiarchis Fountas opened the scoring on 38 minutes, finishing a move set up by Aitor Cantalapiedra. Banza's late goal came from a pass by Pantelis Hatzidiakos, a reminder that PAOK's pressure was real but arrived too late to change the outcome. Those two moments, one early and one at the end, account for every goal in the match.

Discipline was a minor story. Three OFI players were booked, and two PAOK players were booked, with no red card for either side. The match stayed level in numbers from first minute to last, so the result rests on the quality of chances and the penalty rather than on any player being sent off.

The league table adds some context. OFI are eighth after seven matches, with 10 points from three wins, one draw and three defeats, scoring 11 and conceding 11. PAOK are fourth on 15 points, with five wins and two defeats from their seven away matches, scoring 15 and conceding 9 in those games.

Before this match, OFI had won only once in their last six games, and PAOK had won three of their last six.

Player of the matchK. Lilo7 saves8.1

T. Fountas1 goal7.8

Aitor Cantalapiedra1 assist7.7

S. Banza1 goal7.3