PAOK suffered a 1-0 home defeat against Anderlecht in the first leg of their Europa League tie after conceding a goal in the opening seconds.
The Belgian visitors took the lead just 17 seconds into the match when Cvetkovic scored from close range following a clearing error by Zivkovic. Alessio Lisi's team took several minutes to recover from the early shock before moving play toward the opposition penalty area.
Anderlecht nearly doubled their advantage on the counter-attack in the 15th minute, but Cvetkovic shot wide under pressure from Gomez. PAOK held possession but struggled to create clear opportunities until Konstantelias took initiative, evading two defenders in the 29th minute to setup Taison, who missed the target.
Konstantelias was involved again in the 34th minute when he was brought down in the box by Jansana to win a penalty. Michailidis took the spot-kick, which was saved by Coosemans. Mythou scored from the rebound, but a VAR review revealed he had entered the area early, and the goal was disallowed, leaving the score 0-1 at half-time.
Second Half Changes
PAOK made their first substitution at the start of the second half, replacing Hatzidiakos, who was on a yellow card, with Elustondo. The home side pinned Anderlecht in their own half throughout the second period, but could not break down the Belgian defense.
Lisi made further changes in the 63rd minute by introducing Baba and Taylor for Gomez and Santamaria. In the 71st minute, the Italian coach brought on Yeremeyev for Taison and switched to a 4-4-2 formation. He later replaced Mythou with Pelkas in the 83rd minute for another tactical adjustment, but the score remained unchanged ahead of next week's second leg in Brussels.
Match Lineups
PAOK fielded Pavlenka, Kenny, Hatzidiakos, Michailidis, Gomez, Zafeiris, Santamaria, Zivkovic, Konstantelias, Taison, and Mythou, with Elustondo, Baba, Taylor, Yeremeyev, and Pelkas coming off the bench.
Anderlecht started with Coosemans, N'Diaye, Biancone, Pétrot, Maamar, Kana, Ambrose, Jansana, Cvetkovic, Sikan, and Seck. Adman replaced Seck in the 57th minute, while Saliba and Degreef came on for Ambrose and Cvetkovic in the 71st minute.
