Omonia started their Europa League campaign by winning a precious away point, with the Cypriot club drawing 1-1 against Paok in Thessaloniki. This is Omonia’s first ever point in a European competition’s group stage.
Although Omonia started the game with positive intentions, trying to patiently build up play so they can create something promising, they inevitably succumbed to Paok’s pressure, ceding possession and dropping to a low block defensive shape as Paok took the initiative.
However, it was Omonia who took the lead in the 16th minute through a Bautheac goal. Lecjaks received the ball quite high up the left wing who then crossed towards the back post where Bautheac sprung to stab the ball home, catching the Paok defence sleeping.
Omonia had the chance to double their lead in the 41st minute when Papoulis stole the ball inside Paok’s penalty area but couldn’t put the ball in the net from a tight angle.
In the second half, Paok threatened to draw the game with two early headers which both ended up going over the bar. Omonia continued keeping bodies behind ball, clogging up their own penalty area the moment Paok got close to delivering a final ball.
Unfortunately for Omonia, Paok made the most of their dominance in the 56th minute when a pass from the right found Colak near the 9 yard box who then laid the ball off for Murg who finished with a first-time shot.
Omonia had a huge opportunity to retake the lead in the 60th minute when Papoulis released youngster Tzionis in space who couldn’t finish one-on-one against goalkeeper Zivkovic.
Coach Henning Berg made several changes in the 75th minute, with Asante, Kakoulis and Kousoulos coming on for Duris, Papoulis and Gomez.
Berg coupled this triple change with an alteration to his game plan, pushing players forward and lifting the defensive line higher up the pitch. This helped relieve pressure as the previous setup made it too easy for PAOK to threaten Omonia.
The last ten minutes saw the two teams cancelling each other, with some promising situations fizzling out or being thwarted by each team’s respective defence.
