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Cyriel Dessers marked his return from a long injury lay-off, by netting the winner in Panathinaikos 2-1 victory at CSKA Sofia, in the third qualifying round of the Europa Conference League on Tuesday, completesports.com reports.
Panathinaikos went through to the playoff round on 3-2 aggregate, after holding CSKA Sofia to a 1-1 draw in the first leg.
Dessers had been out of action for both club and country due to a thigh injury.
His last appearance for Panathinaikos was 14 December, 2025, in a 2-1 win against Volos in the Greek Super League, where he got on the score sheet.
Dessers, who came on in the 65th minute, scored in the fifth minute of first half extra-time to put the Greek giants 2-1 ahead, which turned out to be the decisive strike.
Levi Garcia had given Panathinaikos the lead in the 60th minute before Lasha Dvali equalised for CSKA Sofia to force extra-time.
Also Read: Dessers: I Wasn’t Excited With My Exit At Rangers
Dessers was the first top scorer of the UEFA Europa Conference League, after scoring 10 goals for Feyenoord during the inaugural 2021–22 season.
Unfortunately, the goals were not enough as Feyenoord lost 1-0 to José Mourinho-led AS Roma in the final.
The 31-year-old was part of the Super Eagles squad to the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations squad that finished third in Morocco but did not play a single match due to injury.
By James Agberebi
