Dessers struck after the restart, and Volos barely threatened

Panathinaikos won 1-0 at Volos NFC without facing a shot on target, after Volos had little of the ball.

Cyriel Dessers scored in the 46th minute, a minute after the restart, and Andrews Tetteh had the assist. It was the only goal at Volos NFC, and it settled the match in Super League 1. Panathinaikos have now won six of their seven away matches this season, while Volos have yet to win any of their seven at home.

Volos had less of the ball than they usually keep at home. They had 31% of possession, against an average of 42.8% over their last four home matches, so for long spells they were the side without it. That is a familiar shape for a home side, but it was lower than their own norm.

The bigger gap was in their chances. Volos took three shots, where they usually take 9.3 at home, and their expected goals (xG, a measure of how good a chance is based on where and how it is struck) came to 0.12. Their usual figure is 0.76, so the few openings they had were of far lower quality than normal.

Panathinaikos had more of the ball than usual, though not by much. Their 69% compares with an away average of 65.8%. They also took 22 shots, well above their usual 16.2 on the road, and fourteen of them came from inside the box. Their xG of 1.91, however, sat below their away average of 3.1, so the chances were less threatening than usual even though there were more of them.

Volos did not get a single shot on target, which meant the Panathinaikos goalkeeper had nothing to do. Panathinaikos managed six on target, and Dessers was the most dangerous of them, scoring from one of his four attempts. Across the league, a side usually takes 11.9 shots and scores around 2.8 goals a game, so this was a quiet match by any measure, with only one goal in it.

Volos's discipline also featured. Their four yellow cards included two before half-time, for Eleftherios Tasiouras in the 15th minute and Matías Nahuel González in the 26th, while Panathinaikos received one. The Volos goalkeeper made four saves, but none of the four came from a shot that the Panathinaikos side had placed on target.

Volos's last five matches have brought one draw and four defeats, and they have not won in seven league games. Panathinaikos's last six matches have brought five wins.

Player of the matchC. Dessers1 goal7.9

D. Calabria1 chance created7.9

A. Tetteh1 assist7.7

R. van Drongelen1 shot on target7.5