One of two Greek teams playing on Thursday evening qualified for the next round of European play, with Panathinaikos Athens overcoming a shocking first-leg 2-1 loss in Helsinki a week ago to a “Cinderella” Icelandic club, Vikingur Reykjavík, by winning 2-0 at the Athens Olympic Stadium.
The “Greens” passed into the round of “16” of the Conference League, qualifying for the specific round in a European competition for the first time since the 2009-10 season.
A stoppage time goal by Tetê sealed a 3-2 aggregate performance in UEFA Conference League play.
“Man of the Match” Filip Mladenović bent a kick into the top corner of Vikingur’s net in the 70th minute to score the fifth European goal of his career and to set up the win-cum-qualification in injury time.
Conversely, PAOK Thessaloniki failed to qualify for the next round in the higher-tier Europa League competition, losing in Bucharest to FCSB 2-0, after also suffering a loss at home 2-1 last week in its Toumba home field.
