First-half goals from Patrik Pápai and Martin Hudák put the hosts two up inside 21 minutes but Evangelos Anastasopoulos and Kyriakos Andreopoulos levelled matters before half-time and Dimitrios Ntagras squeezed in a second-half winner to secure 3rd place in the tournament behind finalists Budapesti Honvéd and Real Madrid CF.
It was Videoton Puskás Akadémia who showed their hand first when in the tenth minute Dávid Kiprich chipped a lovely pass through for Zoltán Zimermann to shoot against Pana goalkeeper Alexandros Anagnostopoulos and float the rebound across to Alex head wastefully wide at the back post.
They threatened again moments later when Alex went on a raid down the right and cut in but his low shot from a tight angle was diverted behind by the keeper. Finally the hosts got the goal they deserved when a short corner routine gave Hudák the chance to cross for Pápai to head down and into the goal despite the best efforts of the Pana defender on the line.
Three minutes later and the Puskás academy had doubled their lead courtesy of Hudák after he exchanged passes with Alex and curled a left-footed shot around Anagnostopoulos and into the far left corner.
Their clean sheet at the other end didn't last much longer though and the green and whites from Athens were right back in the game in the 28th minute when Anastasopoulos strode forward from midfield and cracked a 30-metre howitzer off the left post and in.
Incredibly the game was all-square just before the break when Ádám Menyhért committed a foul on the left edge of his own penalty area and Andreopoulos swerved the resultant low free-kick around the wall and into the bottom right corner of the net.
Pana's comeback was almost complete in the 52nd minute when Ntagras cut the ball back from the left byline for Giannitsanis but he could only drive low and disappointingly wide of the near left post.
However, the visitors didn't have to wait much longer to bring to bear an amazing recovery, Ntagras giving Panathinaikos the lead with a right-foot drive inside the near post after a deep cross from the right wing was only half-cleared to the left side of the penalty area.
The Puskás Academy were stung into action by this reversal of fortunes and in the 65th minute Hudák was unfortunate to see his crashing left-wing drive strike the bar and bounce down and out instead of in. Desite their best efforts the hosts couldn't force their way back on to level terms, one final chance falling their way in the dying seconds but late substitute Dániel Prokics could only knee the ball over the bar from four metres after a header back across goal from a corner.
Panathinaikos therefore secured third place in the 2011 PUSKÁS-SUZUKI CUP while Videoton Puskás Akadémia only finish fourth despite an improved showing in this year's matches.
Videoton Puskás Akadémia: Wittner, Menyhért (Gubacsi 57'), Pálinkás (Géresi 73'), Bartal, Pápai, Halász, Kiprich (c) (Prokics 77'), Hudák, Alex (Paudits 59'), Barcsay, Zimermann.
Goals: Pápai 18'; Hudák 21'.
Yellow Cards: Menyhért 38', Pálinkás 43', Zimermann 50', Bartal 74'.
Panathinaikos: Anagnostopoulos, Vosdou, Andreopoulos, Stamatakis, Ntagras (Ymerai 69'), Chouchoumis, Giannitsanis (Thanailakis 74'), Mouzakitis, Anastasopoulos, Risvanis (c), Kastrati.
Goals: Anastopoulos 28', Andreopoulos 38', Ntagras 58'.
Yellow cards: Vosdou 32', Andreopoulos 77' Anastasopoulos 80'.
