dinamo down panathinaikos to start with win published: thursday 18 september 2014, 21.04cet panathinaikos fc 1-2 fc dinamo moskva aleksandr kokorin and aleksei ionov were on target as the russian visitors opened their group e campaign with a win in athens.
by graham wood from apostolos nikolaidis stadium
• dinamo's aleksandr kokorin opens scoring from kevin kuranyi's assist • aleksei ionov doubles the visitors' advantage with a well-taken strike • christian noboa hits the woodwork for visitors via a curling free-kick • panathinaikos hit back through thanasis dinas' flicked header • next games: estoril v panathinaikos, dinamo moskva v psv (2 october)
a powerful display from fc dinamo moskva earned the russian side a well-deserved 2-1 victory against group e rivals against panathinaikos fc in athens.
dinamo always looked the most likely team to score as the opening half unfolded, with alexander büttner and balázs dzsudzsák's creativity down the left setting up kevin kuranyi and aleksandr kokorin with early chances. the visitors then went close to taking a 27th-minute lead, only for dzsudzsák's curling set-piece effort to come back off the crossbar. however, they went ahead just before half-time thanks to kokorin, who controlled kuranyi's excellent pass before applying a low finish.
it was the first goal panathinaikos had conceded against russian opponents, but another came four minutes after the break when dzsudzsák picked out ionov with a looping cross. the striker brought down the ball superbly, outfoxed home goalkeeper stefanos kotsolis and drilled the ball home.
it was almost 3-0 moments later, but christian noboa's free-kick cannoned back off the post, and the visitors were immediately lamenting their misfortune when thanasis dinas flicked a brilliant header into the net with his back to goal from nano's 63rd-minute free-kick. both teams enjoyed spells of pressure thereafter, but dinamo held on to claim a win which puts them on the front foot in the section's early stages.
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