Thursday evening's Nations League clash at Wembley ended in a deserved defeat for England at the hands of a Greece side who move three points clear of their hosts at the top of their League B table
With Harry Kane unavailable, interim England manager Lee Carsley opted to answer the question about how he could play all of his creative talents by not naming a recognised striker in his starting XI, relying on the likes of Jude Bellingham, Phil Foden, Cole Palmer and Bukayo Saka to cause havoc.
But the resulting first-half performance, although it contained flashes of attacking flair, was notable for the resilience and counter-attacking play of a Greek side who came to Wembley with two Nations League wins out of two.
That pattern continued after the break and Pavlidis sent the visiting supporters into raptures with a well-taken opening goal on 49 minutes, only an offside flag saving England from going two down 10 minutes later.
Ollie Watkins was sent on, immediately going close to an equaliser, and was joined shortly after by Dominic Solanke as England went with two centre-forwards for the final 20 minutes.
But it continued to be their opponents who looked more dangerous in attacking areas and only VAR denied Pavlidis a second before Jude Bellingham's late strike looked to have at least salvaged a draw for England.
Defensive indecision, however, allowed Pavlidis to get his just rewards and savour a winning goal and result that will be long remembered in his homeland.
For Carsley it means a big setback for his own prospects of taking the job on a permanent basis and also some short-term thinking to turn fortunes around ahead of Sunday's game in Finland.