Cyriel Dessers came off the bench to score twice, sending Panathinaikos through to the UEFA Conference League league phase on away goals in extra time.
Cyriel Dessers is not a name that dominates Super Eagles headlines the way Osimhen or Lookman does, but on Thursday night he delivered one of the standout Nigerian performances of the week. Coming off the bench, the forward scored twice to send Panathinaikos through to the UEFA Conference League league phase.
Panathinaikos travelled to Hradec Kralove needing to protect a slim aggregate lead. Dessers broke the deadlock with a header in the 72nd minute, putting his side 1-0 up on the night and 3-2 up on aggregate. Hradec Kralove hit back late through Vladimir Darida in the 92nd minute, forcing extra time.
The tie swung again in the 125th minute when Panathinaikos won a penalty. Dessers, already the match’s decisive figure, stepped up and converted it, finishing the night 2-1 winners and securing a 4-3 aggregate victory that carries the Greek side into the Conference League group stage, as confirmed by UEFA’s official match report.
Dessers has spent recent seasons playing second fiddle to bigger transfer stories involving Nigerian forwards — Osimhen’s ongoing transfer saga and Lookman’s uncertain role at Atletico Madrid have taken most of the attention. That said, performances like this one are exactly the kind of form Eric Chelle’s coaching staff will note as Nigeria’s AFCON 2027 qualifying campaign approaches.
Dessers has previously featured for Feyenoord in European competition, so this isn’t unfamiliar territory for him. As a result, his continued involvement in continental football abroad keeps him firmly in the conversation for Super Eagles squad selection, even if he isn’t the headline name.
Panathinaikos now await Friday’s draw to learn their Conference League group-phase opponents. For Nigerian football fans, that means another European fixture list worth tracking alongside the club’s other Nigerian-linked storylines this season.
For more on how Nigeria’s forwards abroad are shaping up ahead of qualifiers, see our coverage of Osimhen’s ongoing transfer situation and Lookman’s role at Atletico Madrid.
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