Match report
Late Castro penalty seals thrilling win for Brann over PAOK
Brann beat PAOK 3-2 at Brann Stadion in the Europa Conference League playoff round, coming from a two-goal cushion being cancelled out before Niklas Castro's late penalty settled a chaotic contest. Noah Holm had put the home side ahead deep into first-half stoppage time, finishing an assist from Castro to make it 1-0 at the break.
AI-assisted match report written from official match data.
Brann doubled their advantage seven minutes into the second half through Kristall Ingason, set up by Jakob Sørensen, but PAOK responded quickly. Cherif Ndiaye pulled one back on 63 minutes from a Dimitris Pelkas assist, and five minutes later Christos Zafeiris levelled at 2-2, converting a Dimitrios Chatsidis assist to level the scoring.
With the tie finely poised, Castro stepped up again in the 86th minute, converting from the penalty spot to restore Brann's lead and make it 3-2, a scoreline that held to the final whistle. PAOK dominated territory for long spells but could not find a third equaliser as Brann held on for the win.
Castro was involved in two of Brann's three goals, setting up Holm's opener before scoring the decisive 86th-minute penalty himself.
Despite having just 6% of possession, Brann were far more clinical, converting their chances while PAOK dominated the ball without finding a decisive breakthrough.
Brann beat PAOK 3–2 (half-time 1–0).
Brann met PAOK in the UEFA Europa Conference League (Playoff round). Kick-off was Thursday, 27 August 2026, 17:00 UTC at Brann Stadion. Referee: John Brooks.
Team pages: Brann · PAOK · UEFA Europa Conference League
Key moments
- 45' Goal: Noah Holm (assist: Niklas Castro) — 1–0
- 56' Goal: Kristall Ingason (assist: Jakob Sørensen) — 2–0
- 63' Goal: Cherif Ndiaye (assist: Dimitris Pelkas) — 2–1
- 68' Goal: Christos Zafeiris (assist: Dimitrios Chatsidis) — 2–2
- 86' Goal (penalty): Niklas Castro — 3–2
Starting line-ups
Brann (4-3-3)
Sirius · Why these numbers
Before kick-off Sirius gave Brann 35%, the draw 27%, PAOK 38%. It finished Brann 3–2 PAOK.
PAOK's rating edge outweighs Brann's home ground — PAOK are the stronger side on our strength rating, and that is most of PAOK's 38%. The draw at 27% is about what a gap this size usually leaves.
Why PAOK at 38%?
PAOK sit 170 points higher on our strength rating — 1560 to 1731. Sides with a 100–200-point rating edge on the road won 40.1% of 13,099 such games. The 300 most similar past games finished 25–28–47.
Why only 38%?
Brann sit -0.39 goals per game below chance-quality — cold streaks like this have bounced back. Finishing swings carry a receipt at this rating gap too: sides finishing this cold won 38.7% of 2,387 such games where the class table expected 36.3%.
Why the draw at 27%?
With a rating gap this size the draw starts at 27.2%. These teams' recent games average 3.0 goals — a typical goals environment. Games in that environment drew 24.6% of 24,882.
Sirius probabilities, frozen at kick-off. Analysis, not betting advice. How Sirius is doing this season · Full breakdown, evidence cards and squad news in the Match Insights tab
About this match
On this page: the Brann vs PAOK final score and result, who scored, starting lineups, match stats and the full match report from this UEFA Europa Conference League fixture.
- Who scored and when — a goal-by-goal timeline of the match.
- Match stats — possession, shots, expected goals (xG), corners and cards.
- Starting lineups and player ratings for both teams.
- Head-to-head record and recent form for both sides.
The full match report above covers the goals, key moments and stats. Explore more on the Brann and PAOK team pages or the UEFA Europa Conference League page.