On the restart, Vanhaezebrouck chooses to bring out Okumu, under the threat of too many cards and replaces him with Jordan Torunarigha. PAOK continues to push forward and Chuba Akpom is very close to giving the advantage to the Greek club on a header. But it is Ghent who thinks to open the scoring when a long shot from Julien DeSart is released by the Greek guardian in the feet ofAlessio Castro-Montes who places a flat foot in the nets. But the Ghent is (with good reason) flagged offside.
We find De Sart at the other end of the field, author of a fault at the entrance of the large rectangle just before the hour mark. Jasmin Kurticthe Slovenian midfielder, PAOK’s top scorer, hits the ball through the middle. Sven Kums, placed in the Ghent wall (cut in half), inadvertently deflects the ball with his knee. Roef is beaten (1-0, 59th).
A blow on the head for Ghent more and more often caught up in the game of Greeks who play it shrewdly towards the referees, sometimes collapsing easily. But Kurtic, the scorer, is warned for a gesture of humor when he has been asking for his change for long minutes. The Slovenian will be suspended on return, just like the Serbian winger Andrija Zivkovicanother important element of the Greek game.
Despite a few chances and a disallowed goal, La Gantoise rather suffered the match and conceded on a small twist of fate, while having to deal with the “tips and tricks” of the opposing players to save time and whistles from the referee… The Buffalos will have to reverse the trend in the return match, next Thursday (March 17, 9 p.m.), if they want to continue to wear (alone) the Belgian colors in the European Cup.
