Thanks to a great comeback on Thursday at home against PAOK, PSV still has a good view of wintering in the Europa League. The team from Eindhoven won 3-2 after an early 0-2 deficit.
After thirteen minutes it was already 0-2 in the empty Philips Stadium, but PSV came back well afterwards. Cody Gakpo, Noni Madueke and Donyell Malen signed for the goals of trainer Roger Schmidt’s team.
It was only the second time in club history that PSV won a European game after trailing 2-0. Only in 1963 did that work earlier, when Esbjerg had already scored twice after eight minutes, but lost 3-4.
PSV takes over the second place in group E from PAOK. Leader Granada was 2-1 too strong for Omonia Nicosia on Thursday and remains four points ahead of PSV, which will visit the Spaniards next Thursday.
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Cody Gakpo shoots through the legs of the PAOK goalkeeper in the 1-2. (Photo: Pro Shots)
Hit Malen incorrectly rejected
PSV started the game defensively and PAOK’s first two chances were an immediate hit. In the fourth minute, Christos Tzolis shot through teammate Fernando Varela a bit fortunately in the 0-1 and barely ten minutes later it was already 0-2, when Tzolis carefully lashed out.
In between, PSV seemed to score the tying run via Malen, but that was wrongly rejected by the Latvian arbitration. Malen was offside after a header from a corner by Eran Zahavi, but there were perhaps five Greek defenders behind the PSV striker. Because no VAR is used in the Europa League, the arbitral error could not be corrected.
PSV was too rushed and sloppy in possession in the opening phase. With the first secure attack it was immediately successful after twenty minutes. Gakpo pushed the ball through the legs of PAOK goalkeeper Zivko Zivkovic.
After that, the home team took the initiative and was close to the equalizer a number of times. Malen (twice), Denzel Dumfries and Zahavi, however, were unsuccessful in the completion. On the other hand, PSV defender Olivier Boscagli was able to prevent the Greeks from reaching the goal with a sparse counter-punch with four men with a crucial intervention.
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Noni Madueke takes care of the 3-2 shortly after the 2-2. (Photo: Pro Shots)
Madueke and Malen score shortly after the break
Five minutes after the break, the equalizer fell via Madueke. After an attack from the right via Dumfries and Gakpo, the eighteen-year-old Englishman hit diagonally: 2-2.
Two minutes later it was already 3-2. While the Greek defense expected a pass from Malen to Philipp Max, the striker thrust the ball to Zahavi. The Israeli shot was blocked by Zivkovic, but the passing Malen tapped the rebound into the empty goal.
After that, PSV could have increased the score further, but Madueke missed an imposed chance. In the final phase, the game went up and down, but great opportunities were not forthcoming. Also a raid by former Feyenoord player Diego Biseswar at PAOK could not prevent PSV from keeping the three hard-fought points in-house and passing the Greeks in the score.
View the results, the program and the positions in the Europa League
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