PAOK smart set piece goal vs Ajax
PAOK scored a goal from a wide free-kick in the home leg of their Champions League qualifier against Ajax last night that caught my eye:
From a position on the right wing roughly level with the penalty spot, the right-footed PAOK set piece taker clips the ball into the heart of the box.
As he’s running up to strike the ball, the eventual goalscorer (red line) is originally stationed at the far post and sprints to the middle of the 6-yard box, while the player originally lurking at the edge of the box loops around to fill in the space vacated at the far post by his team-mate:
While this interchange is going on, the other 3 PAOK players in the area pin themselves touch tight against the markers and block them from tracking the movements of the runners/stop them from switching their marking assignments:
That frees up the space in the middle of the box for the goalscorer to have an unmarked header. It’s also worth noting that this routine has left the player at the far post completely unmarked as well, so if the delivery is overhit or they want to run a disguised version of this, the player is free at the back stick to mop up:
It’s a simple set of movements that unsettled a defence and created a great scoring chance for a side in a significant game. It only takes a little bit of creativity for set pieces to make an massive difference.
