castro rescues dortmund a point at paok published: thursday 1 october 2015, 23.37cet paok 1-1 dortmund gonzalo castro cancelled out róbert mak's opener to rescue a point for the visitors in greece and keep them top of group c.
paok open the scoring against the run of play through róbert mak gonzalo castro levels for dormund in the 72nd minute park joo hoo goes close for dortmund late on next games: qäbälä v dortmund, paok v krasnodar (22 october)
paok were denied what would have been a first victory over german opponents in 34 years as gonzalo castro's fortunate second-half equaliser saw borussia dortmund earn a 1-1 draw in salonika.
róbert mak's emphatic first-half finish put paok ahead but castro levelled with 18 minutes left, earning a draw which means dortmund remain top of group c with four points from two matches with paok two behind.
despite resting the likes of forward pierre-emerick aubameyang, defender mats hummels and midfielder shinji kagawa in view of the upcoming bundesliga meeting with bayern münchen, the visitors were on the attack from the kick-off with jonas hoffman flashing a dipping volley over the paok crossbar after two minutes.
home keeper robin olsen saved well from castro in the 23rd minute after a typical slick dortmund attack, with the hosts finding it difficult to get hold of the ball. but just when it seemed dortmund were in control, the toumba erupted when paok opened the scoring. captain alexandros tziolis sent mak scampering through on goal with a superb pass and the slovakian winger beat visiting keeper roman weidenfeller with an unstoppable shot into the roof of the net.
dortmund failed to produce the expected second-half onslaught and when marco reus had a sight of goal on 71 minutes his free-kick was comfortably saved by olsen. just a minute later though dortmund drew level via the softest of goals. hoffman made a run into the box and jumped over castro's chipped through ball, which tricked olsen who was caught off guard, and the ball rolled into the net.
home substitute jairo da silva drew a smart save from weidenfeller while park joo ho went close with a snapshot late on but neither side could find a breakthrough as honours ended even.
striker light dortmund dortmund coach thomas tuchel's decision to leave several high profile stars at home with bayern on the horizon meant that marco reus played as a makeshift striker. the german international did show some impressive touches and movement but for all dortmund's possession he still cut a rather isolated figure. when the german side went 1-0 down you could not help but wonder what might have happened if they had been able to bring on aubameyang.
big mak the goalscorer was one of the home side's best performers of the night, producing an energetic display that has become his hallmark in the greek super league. he was a constant threat for paok on the counter, making lung-bursting runs in behind dortmund's backline and his 34th-minute goal was as emphatic a strike as they come.
paok pack the midfield ıgor tudor's 3-5-2 formation worked a treat as the hosts quite happily allowed dotmund possession only to break up play in the final third and break dangerously on the counterattack. the system frustrated dortmund all evening and they struggled to find a way around it with tziolis particularly impressive in the middle for the greeks.
