Toché pegs back Lazio at the last

Toché struck a 91st-minute equaliser as Panathinaikos FC earned a 1-1 draw with Group J leaders S.S. Lazio.

The Greek side looked set for a damaging defeat as they trailed to Giourkas Seitaridis' 25th-minute own goal heading into added time. Yet their UEFA Europa League ambitions were revived when the predatory Toché turned in Vitolo's cross, even if Lorik Cana then missed by millimetres for Lazio as his shot rose just over the bar.

Lazio bossed possession from the off and Antonio Candreva soon forced Orestis Karnezis into action. André Dias' header then shaved the upright, but the hosts were also asking questions of their own, and it took a desperate last-ditch block to deny Ibrahim Sissoko after fine work from Bruno Fornaroli.

The game settled into a pattern of unthreatening Lazio pressure and Panathinaikos counterattacks before a bizarre own goal disrupted it. Right-back Seitaridis was not under any pressure, but his pass back to where he imagined Karnezis to be proved ill-judged, and the goalkeeper could do nothing as the ball rolled behind him into the empty net.

The Greek side began to take the initiative yet struggled to break down a resolute Lazio defence, and as the second half wore on substitute Mauro Zárate began dictating things for the visitors. Another replacement, Quincy Owusu-Abeyie, helped revive home hopes and both the Ghanaian international and Lazaros Christodoulopoulos went close.

It just did not seem to be Panathinaikos's night, a feeling underlined when Toché was denied by Albano Bizzarri 11 minutes from time after good work from Owusu-Abeyie. Adding to the frustration, Christodoulopoulos had a shot blocked on the line, but Toché was not finished yet.