Welcome Marcos Antonio and may he be late

In the game against Lamia, PAOK had a new face. Summer transfer in theory, winter transfer in practice Marcos Antonio made his debut in the Dikefalos jersey. The little Brazilian ran for around 18 minutes including the delays and was satisfied.

His smile from the moment he entered the field as a member of the delegation to the moment he left to a standing ovation in the locker room spoke volumes. Mainly about the psychological state of a footballer who has suffered over the last four months until he overcomes the serious bruise he brought back from Italy.

In the short time he competed, he only managed to demonstrate his skills in a small selection of writings. Logically, this sample will be larger in the cup game against Volos, where he is expected to play more.

For a footballer who had so many months to take part in an official match, Marcos Antonio showed above all a willingness to play. He made sure to cover his area of ​​responsibility in front of the two central defenders, move quickly and always be within reach of his teammates, without – and this was completely logical – taking initiatives to carry the ball towards the attack. Because when he came into the game, his team was just trying to secure the lead and didn’t bother to increase the score, which was already clearly 3-0.

Victory without attack and with goalscorer Delia and his two defenders

After all, he had already achieved a clear 2-0 at the end of the first part, showing once again that his big weapon this year is his pluralism in attack.

Lucescu’s team scored their first goal relatively quickly in the 21st minute with two usual suspects. Tyson carried the ball parallel to the opponent’s penalty area, drove it from the left to the right side of the field, found no purchase and decided to change direction to go back. Konstantelias gave him a choice in the penalty area, received the ball with his left, shot with his right and put his team in the lead

And then the two extreme defenders took action. Rafa Soares scored for the second league game in a row and Joan Sastre came on as a second-half substitute to make the score 3-0.

From Lucescu’s “game by game” to the stands’ demands for doubles and Europe

On an afternoon in Toumba, where the situation oscillated between excessive celebration before victory was even assured, and fans shouting for a league, a cup and… a European Cup, while still appearing touched by their team’s victory in Germany.

Even when Razvan Lucescu’s players flirted with serious mistakes in the five-minute period from 36 to 40 minutes, when their opponents really pressed them as they tried to build their attacks from the back zone, it seemed as if they had the serious PAOK has no problem winning with it.

And as much as Lamia showed that they are indeed a well-coordinated team and went into the second half with the intention of finding a goal to get back into the game, Dikefalos managed to maintain the almost entirely positive tradition against them and more get three points Stay just a stone’s throw from the summit.

Here too, Lucescu made eight changes compared to the previous game in Germany, this time keeping his team’s top scorer, Andrija Zivkovic, on the bench for the entire game.

Next up is the cup game against Volos on Thursday afternoon, where Živko Živkovic is expected to be at home, and then Tripoli in a game that will be very important, at least in terms of points. Step by step, game by game, as Loucescu says, PAOK grows, produces protagonists and adds more characters and players to its game…