Petar Marinov kept FC CSKA 1948 Sofia in the contest for 90 minutes, only for two Panathinaikos goals to prove the difference in a 2-1 Conference League defeat on Thursday night.
The Bulgarian goalkeeper made nine saves across the match, repeatedly denying the Greek side and earning a 7.8 match rating for his efforts. Without his interventions, the scoreline could have been far more emphatic.
A valiant rearguard
CSKA 1948 managed a reply of their own but Marinov's workload told the story of the evening. Panathinaikos controlled proceedings and tested him from distance, from close range, and everything in between. He answered each time bar the two that counted.
The defeat ends the Sofia club's European run, though Marinov's performance will be remembered as the reason the margin stayed respectable. On another night, with slightly better fortune in front of him, nine saves might have been enough to steal a result. Tonight, they kept the scoreline tight and little more.