Panathinaikos hammered Werder Bremen 3-0 in Germany to revive their qualification hopes.
Overdue win is worth the wait for Greeks
Panathinaikos hammered Werder Bremen 3-0 in Germany to record their first UEFA Champions League win for three years and revive their chances of going through from Group B.
Second half goals from Vangelis Mantzios, Giorgos Karagounis and Alexandros Tziolis gave the Greeks an impressive victory which left Bremen winless and bottom of the group.
All four of Mantzios's goals in the competition have come against Bremen and he continued that run with his third in two games to open the scoring after 58 minutes.
Collecting a pass from Karagounis, Mantzios turned on the edge of the penalty area and fired a low shot into the bottom corner.
Stunning
Karagounis, who had hit the bar with a long-range free-kick in the first half, then scored a stunning second 11 minutes later as he allowed a throw-in to bounce and thumped an angled volley into the roof of the net from 20 yards.
Bremen had offered little threat and they went further behind seven minutes from time when Tziolis drilled in a loose ball as the German defence disintegrated.
Former Arsenal midfielder Gilberto almost added a fourth but saw his effort cleared off the line.
Bremen's best spell came just before half-time but they created few real chances against a side managed by former Chelsea assistant Henk Ten Cate.
Markus Rosenberg had a shot saved by Mario Galinovic, who also did well to parry a free-kick from Diego which flicked off the head of Claudio Pizarro.
But Panathinaikos were rarely troubled again as they cruised to a first victory in eight attempts in the competition.
| Werder Bremen |
Team Statistics |
Panathinaikos |
| 0 |
Goals |
3 |
| 0 |
1st Half Goals |
0 |
| 6 |
Shots on Target |
4 |
| 3 |
Shots off Target |
6 |
| 5 |
Blocked Shots |
5 |
| 8 |
Corners |
2 |
| 16 |
Fouls |
14 |
| 0 |
Offsides |
6 |
| 0 |
Yellow Cards |
0 |
| 0 |
Red Cards |
0 |
| 80.2 |
Passing Success |
76.3 |
| 12 |
Tackles |
14 |
| 66.7 |
Tackles Success |
78.6 |
| 58.4 |
Possession |
41.6 |
| 56.9 |
Territorial Advantage |
43.1 |
|
