PAO…Apopse na Trelatho

By: Peter Katsiris | November 5th, 2008

Please excuse the overloaded Greek in the title (it simply translates to “I’m going crazy tonight”, but there is emphasis on the PAO as that is Panathinaikos abbreviation), but Tuesday night was surely a joyous evening for Panathinaikos fans as the Tryfili cruised to a 3-0 win over Werder Bremen at the Weser Stadion on Tuesday. A three-goal second half performance set Bremen into a painful déjà vu of another Greek visit to Bremen, as Panathinaikos, victory mirrored rivals Olympiacos’ 3-1 triumph from last season.

With both teams knowing only three points would suffix their hopes of reaching the knockout rounds of the UEFA Champions League, it was clear both sides had ambitions of bagging the available three points. After a 5-1 victory over Hertha Berlin on the weekend, Werder Bremen was favoured to succeed on this night; however, Panathinaikos showed glimpses of greatness on Saturday with a win against Panionios ahead of a tough week for the Athenian giants.

As both team’s appetites were only going to be satisfied with a victory, the match began with a physical introduction. Once both teams settled down, it was Panathinaikos who showed the best of composure in the early moments.

Despite both teams fizzing around goal in an attempt to break the deadlock, it wasn’t until the second half that the match finally saw a breakthrough. A clever combination between Alexandros Tziolis and Evangelos Mantzios resulted in the latter beating a stranded Tim Wiese to give the visitors a 1-0 lead.

Twelve minutes later, Panathinaikos extended its lead with a stunning strike from Georgios Karagounis. Receiving the ball off a quick throw-in, the Greece international turned his defender and unleashed a volley which dipped to fool Wiese.

Now in a controlling position, Panathinaikos looked to seal the match with planet of focus on defense. But the ‘Tryfili’ were distracted from their main focus, as poor marking by Bremen left an opening for Panathinaikos. When a for sure goal scoring opportunity looked all but lost, Tziolis latched on to a Per Mertesacker clearance and with a fortunate deflection off a Bremen defender the Greece international beat a stumped Wiese for Panathinaikos’ third of the night.

It was nearly 4-0 off the ensuing kickoff, but Mantzios was not able to double his night’s tally as Bremen defenders hurried to cover for a rounded Wiese.

With the victory, Panathinaikos sees its chase for the knockout stages revived but plenty of work lies ahead for the Athenian giants who now shift their focus to the Greek Super League; a visit from arch-rivals Olympiacos is on the agenda for Henk Ten Cate’s men, as the chase for Super League success coincided with a European dream.

Werder Bremen , meanwhile, face the all but certain prospect of missing out on the knockout rounds again – despite heading into the match on Tuesday undefeated after three rounds. Sitting at the bootm of group B, the Germans will be keen to qualify for the UEFA Cup.

In the group’s other fixture, Italian Champions, Inter Milan, were held by Anorthosis Famagusta in a 6-goal thriller at the GSP Stadium in Nicosia. It took a late strike from Julio Cruz to avoid any blushes for Jose Mourinho’s Scudetto holders, as the Cypriots continue to stir surprises in Europe’s most prestigious club competition.

When play resumes on match-day 5, Panathinaikos will travel to the San Siro to face Inter Milan on November 26^th. At the same hour, Werder Bremen face the daunting task of a trip to Cyprus as Temuri Ketsbaia’s confident islanders look to better the result they achieved in Bremen – the matchday 1 encounter ended scoreless at the Weser Stadion.

Man of the match: The honour of the Fans’ Man of the Match presented by Vodafone was awarded to Panathinaikos playmaker Alexandros Tziolis. The Greek played a large part in Panathinaikos’ success on this night; his incredible vision was the catalyst in the plays leading to many of Panathinaikos’ surges toward the Bremen goal – not to mention his own tally seven minutes before time.

Werder Bremen 0-3 Panathinaikos
Mantzios 58′, Karagounis 70′, Tziolis 83′

Yellow Cards:
Werder Bremen – none.
Panathinaikos – none.

Werder Bremen (Thomas Schaaf): Wiese, Pasanen, Naldo, Baumann, Vranjes (64′ Hunt), Rosenberg, Diego, Ozil, Prodl (46′ Fritz, 68′ Sanogo), Pizarro, Mertesacker.

Panathinaikos (Henk Ten Cate): Galinovic, Spyropoulos, Nilsson, Sarriegi, Vyntra, Gilberto Silva, Simao, Tziolis, Gabriel (75′ Moon), Karagounis (79′ Goumas), Mantzios (89′ Salpingidis).

Referee: Viktor Kassai (Hungary)
Assistants: Gabor Eros (Hungary), Timor Vamos (Hungary)
Fourth Official: Istvan Vad (Hungary)

Venue: Weser Stadion, Bremen, Germany.