Europa League Play-Off Round, Second Half Report: Fenerbahçe vs. PAOK – Fenerbahçe knocked out on 1-2 aggregate
The second half of the Fenerbahçe vs. PAOK Europa League qualifying match kicked off with the same intensity as the first. However, this time around, Fenerbahce seemed to manage to capitalize on the early possession that they had. Five minutes were all that were required in the second half to see Fenerbahce take the lead. The Turkish side, after trying to score since the first half, finally broke the 0-0 deadlock.
It was Emre Belozoglu who got the goal for the Turkish side. It was a goal that was well received by the home fans, who seemed to erupt with joy when they saw the ball fall into the back of the net.
The match then carried on to be level for most part of the game. This score-line was in favour of neither one of the teams (as the aggregate was now 1-1, following PAOK’s 1-0 win in the first leg of the play-off round over Fenerbahce) and they would have to go into overtime or maybe even the penalty shoot-out to settle the score if either team didn't manage to find the breakthrough soon.
Both the teams looked to press on each other for the remaining twenty or so minutes of the game, and both the teams seemed to be not making any real chances in front of the goal. This made the players grow frustrated as they wasted some easy chances and were sending passes with no real direction or purpose.
The ninety minutes ended with the score-line reading one-nil in Fenerbahce's favour. Since PAOK had also scored a goal in the first leg of the same tie, it meant that the teams would be back on the pitch to try and decide the game in extra time.
Extra time got underway with neither of the two teams really attacking each other. This could have been because of the fact that the players were tired and just couldn't give it their all for another thirty minutes.
Despite that fact, both the teams created a handful of half chances in the second half. Out of those chances, one moment seemed to have done the trick for PAOK.
In the dying minutes of the first half of extra time, Zlatan Muslimovic struck for PAOK and gave the away team their first goal of the game, but their second goal in the leg and hence helping the team go one goal up on aggregate.
The first half of extra time ended, with the score-line reading 1-1. Fenerbahce went into the second half of extra time knowing that they would need to give it their all if they were to have any chance of playing in the group stages of the Europa League.
The second half of extra time got underway with Fenerbahce going all out while PAOK were more than content with their advantage and were looking to defend for the last fifteen or so minutes of the match.
In the dying few minutes of the second half, there were a series of tries and misses by Fenerbahce, while PAOK looked strong and more than capable of keeping the Turkish side at bay for a few more minutes to see them get knocked out of all European competitions for the season.
That is exactly how the match ended. Fenerbahce were left wondering what they did wrong, while PAOK were on their way to the group stages of the Europa League. At the end of the second half of extra time, the scoreboard read one all, but due to the goal that PAOK scored in the first leg, the team managed to progress through, while the Turkish giants Fenerbahce were sent home packing. Considering they were playing in their home stadium, they didn't really need to go very far.
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