Viktoria Plzeň of Czech Republic striker, Salim Fago Lawal failed to score in 82 minutes of action and watched his side drop out of the UEFA Europa League after losing to Panathinaikos of Greece via penalties.
Sports247 reports that, while Cyriel Dessers was ruled out with injury and was not dressed by Panathinaikos, Lawal starred from the beginning for the hosts, but his efforts were not good enough to fetch victory.
The game eventually ended 1-1 and went into penalties after extra time, following which two of Lawal’s teammates lost their kicks, while Panathinaikos missed only one and pulled through to the next stage.
With three of their players netting penalties, Panathinaikos secured victory in their play-off tie in the Czech Republic, following a 3-3 aggregate score, in which Lawal’s side fell behind after just nine minutes.
The home side gradually recovered from the early setback and carved out their first decent chance 21 minutes in with an intricate move, resulting in Lukas Cerv nodding down for Lawal to fire just over.
Viktoria continued to increase their share of the efforts as the half wore on, but neither Tomas Ladra, Amar Memic, nor Cerv caused any problems for Alban Lafont in the Panathinaikos goal.
It marks a huge disappointment for Lawal, who signed a long-term contract with Viktoria Plzeň on January 27th, running until 2029, a few months after getting his Super Eagles’ debut on December 16th, 2025 in a friendly against Egypt.
