No more Belgian teams in Europe. With KAA Gent, our last representative also passed away in the 1/8 Finals of the Conference League. Against PAOK, Buffalo made a false start by taking 0-1 after twenty minutes. Laurent Depuyt’s equalizer before the break provided hope at the Gelamco Arena, but in the second half, Ghent was unable to resume play. After a second Greek strike, the books were allowed to go to the end.
AA Gent – BAOK Thessaloniki in a nutshell:
- Key moment: Immediately after the break, Ghent had an excellent opportunity to take the lead. Castro Montes directs the ball to Samoys, which is completely detached at the far post. He has 2-1 at his foot, but hits the ball wrong. A turning point in the game.
- man of the match: Douglas Augusto Gent took his breath away with his superb goal and put PAOK on their way to the Conference League quarter-finals. The Brazilian topped the ball with a surprising free kick from Vierina and beautifully shot the ball past Rove in the net.
- noticeable: A skewed free kick by Kurtic in the first leg gave PAOK a 1–0 victory at home and at Gillamco Arena he scored twice from a corner kick and a free kick. It should be obvious, Ghent lost this mutual confrontation on the fixed stages.
Crespo requires a leading role with purpose and hands
Show courage, dare. This was the message Hein Vanhaezebrouck gave his men and they clearly understood it well. After barely 5 minutes, Tissoudali dissolved all his demons, and his shot narrowly missed. The tone is set, the game image is fixed. PAOK had to be limited to defense, while Gent accumulated full and a half chances.
The calm was colossal when visitors stepped forward after 20 minutes of nowhere. At Gent they couldn’t clear the ball after a corner kick and Crespo managed to score from close range with some luck.
A dangerous moment and an instant prize for the Greeks, they had to recover from that moment in Ghent. The frustration was even greater when they were not awarded a penalty in the half hour after Crespo’s clear hand.
Gently you got what you deserve after all. Depuetry finally managed to break free from Lyratzis with a pass from Samoise and the equalizer went well just beyond Pashalakis’ reach.
Two fixed phases, two targets
Immediately after the break, Ghent almost completely put things in order. Samoise gave plenty of space at the far post and a unique opportunity to score 2-1, but he hit the ball wrong. Shortly thereafter, Ghent himself fled when Akpom decided to hack in front of him.
Ghent continued to put pressure on BAOK, but the Greeks did not falter. Pascalakis stood firmly on Okumo’s header and Odiga’s shot. Tissoudali’s flashy deeds also failed to materialize after the break.
At the final stage, the whole curtain fell on Ghent. After a corner kick in the first half, PAOK now hit a free kick in front of the goal. Instead of making a cross, Verena returned the ball to Douglas, who gently shot the ball past Rove into the goal: 1-2. Despite their continued dominance, Ghent still missed the Conference League quarter-finals.
Vanheisbrück: “Recurring phenomenon, lack of competence”
Hein Vanhaezebrouck couldn’t hide the disappointment after coming out against PAOK. “We should be proud of our path in Europe. We played a great match, but unfortunately it is a recurring phenomenon in Ghent. Last year and even more this year: a lack of competence”, said the Ghent coach.
“We just have to score a lot. You have to put this team behind and then not all this cinema will happen in the second half. We played football for 15 minutes in the second half winning all the time. This is our team a personal mistake we always have to create a lot Of the opportunities to score, we know that.”
“It bothers me that we conceded three goals, all three in standing stages. We just give it up, it was three avoidable goals. We only had to keep a zero twice against this team and then we qualified.”
“But if we look at the whole picture, we put in some great performances in Europe. It’s a pity for the boys that they didn’t make it to the quarter-finals.”
At Ghent they felt disadvantaged when they did not receive a penalty after half an hour for a hand by Crespo. “The German referee told me it was not a deliberate hands-on exercise. In Belgium they whistle for this. I would like to know from UEFA what it is now. In Germany it seems that it has to be deliberately hand carried, in Belgium it is not. We are playing Apparently in competition with other bases.”
Ghent must immediately shift the focus, because the top of the league against Anderlecht is already waiting for Sunday. “Now we have to change the shift. The boys gave a lot and also saw that they always had to beat this opponent. It’s a huge disappointment, we will try to correct it on Sunday.”
Ogedja: “Courage sank in our shoes with the second goal”
Vadis Ogedja also put his finger on the wound. “They score in three permanent stages, otherwise they would have shown a little bit of attack during the two games. We could have scored two or three goals in the first half, but we didn’t succeed. In the end they were more efficient than us, at such a critical level.”
“We have shown very good things in recent weeks, we can’t put everything together and now start to improve. We also saw a lot of positive things today. If we scored first or scored two goals in the first half, we could have played a completely different game.”
“We continued it in the second half, but the second goal was very difficult. Our courage waned at the time, because we knew it was over for us.”
Odjidja is now focused on the important competition match against Anderlecht. “On Sunday, all our fans will once again be massive and try to yell at us for victory. We will make sure we are ready.”
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Hjulsager decides on Paschalakis
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BAOK takes the lead again
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