AEK falling apart in defence
Stuttering AEK, who have rapidly seen their Super League title hopes almost disappear after two derby losses to Olympiacos and Panathinaikos, have been plagued by terrible defensive performances.
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10 games, 15 conceded goals. An utterly unacceptable statistic for a club which wants to become champions. AEK have conceded at least two goals in their last four games, against Volos, Olympiacos, Atromitos and PAOK, losing two of those matches to their main title rivals. Overall, AEK have only tallied three clean sheets in 10 games, as they kept Lamia (2-0), Panetolikos (1-0) and AE Larissa (0-0) off the board.
The rather unprofessional behaviour of Bosnian centre-back Ognjen Vranjes hasn’t helped at all. Before the headline derby against Olympiacos, Vranjes was filmed at his birthday party which hadn’t been approved by AEK, before he then made an Instagram post to the opposing fans who had taunted him in Piraeus. Vranjes has been frozen out of the team until December as a consequence.
Marios Oikonomou, who is prone to mistakes and injuries, subsequently missed the game with Panathinaikos due to a knock.
Generally, Dmytro Chygrynskiy is regarded as the most reliable AEK defender, but the experienced Ukrainian centre-back has been somewhat out of sorts recently. On Sunday, Chygrynskiy was at fault for the first two Panathinaikos goals as the Prasini made a dramatic comeback, especially when Juan Jose Perea equalised from point blank range. Stratos Svarnas is the other option for centre-back.
Helder Lopes, Niklas Hult, Michalis Bakakis and Paulinho have been suspect on the wings too. In goal, Vasilis Barkas has enjoyed a reasonably strong start to the season, but he needs some help in front of him. Help which is simply non-existent at the moment.
The international break has arrived at the perfect time. In their next two games, AEK will face Aris at home and OFI on the road, matches which will give the Enosi a big test. AEK are currently trailing league leaders Olympiacos by a large nine points with a third of the regular season already in the books.
