Two red cards, then Mythou's 87th-minute winner for PAOK

PAOK beat Asteras Tripolis 2-1 at Toumba after both sides had been reduced to ten men, and the numbers before the dismissals told a more mixed story than the scoreline.

Two red cards shaped the end of this game at Toumba. Jonjoe Kenny was sent off for PAOK in the 63rd minute, and Franz Brorsson followed for Asteras Tripolis in the 73rd, so from that point both sides were playing with ten men. Anestis Mythou scored the winner for PAOK in the 87th minute, in the only goal scored after the second dismissal.

The first half turned on goals rather than on anything else. Cherif Ndiaye put PAOK ahead in the 8th minute, and Benjamin Mbunga-Kimpioka levelled for Asteras Tripolis in the 39th, so the match was level before a single card had been shown in anger. Those two goals are the reason the later dismissals mattered as much as they did.

PAOK had 64% of the ball, which is well above their usual 50% at home. Asteras Tripolis had 36%, below the 44.5% they average away from home. Holding the ball is not the same as creating chances, though, and this is where the figures become more interesting.

PAOK took 12 shots, fewer than the 15.8 they usually take at home. Their expected goals, a measure that adds up how likely each shot was to go in based on where it was taken from, came to 2.1, which is above their home norm of 1.89. So the chances were better even though there were fewer of them. Asteras Tripolis took 8 shots against a road average of 10.2, and their expected goals of 0.69 sat almost exactly alongside the 0.71 they normally produce away.

Asteras Tripolis' goalkeeper, N. Papadopoulos, made four saves, which is twice as many as the PAOK keeper had to make. PAOK conceded only one goal, below the 1.7 they usually let in at home, while Asteras Tripolis scored their single goal, which matches their normal away output. Nothing about the attacking side of the match was out of the ordinary for Asteras, but the defensive side of PAOK's game was a little tidier than usual.

PAOK are fifth in the table on 15 points from eight matches. Asteras Tripolis are eleventh on 6 points from the same number of games, with one win, three draws and four defeats. The result lifts PAOK further clear of the bottom half, while Asteras Tripolis stay where they were.

Player of the matchC. Ndiaye1 goal7.8

A. Mythou1 goal7.8

A. Živković1 assist7.7

B. Mbunga Kimpioka1 goal7.6