AEK get back to winning ways
GREEK SUPERLEAGUE - MATCHDAY 12
| AEK | 2 - 0 | Xanthi |
|---|---|---|
| Ponce 8' Livaja 90' |
AEK returned to winning ways on Sunday with a solid performance in a 2-0 home victory over Xanthi at the Olympic Stadium to end a barren run of three matches without a win.
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Goals from Ezequiel Ponce and Marko Livaja secured three much-needed points for the Champions, who had lost two and drawn once in their last three matches - form which had seen Marinos Ouzounidis’ team slip down the table.
This victory helped the Kitrinomavri leapfrog Panathinaikos into fourth spot with 20 points, but they are still nine points behind leaders PAOK, who play at Lamia tomorrow evening.
THE MATCH
After their poor recent domestic form and another woeful Champions League performance against Ajax in mid-week, it was imperative that AEK bounced back against Xanthi to restore some confidence.
And Ponce helped release the pressure on the home side with an early goal after just eight minutes when he rammed home the rebound after Viktor Klonaridis’ shot was blocked by the Xanthi defence.
That goal settled the early nerves of the home side and they played with some fluidity for the first time in what seems like a very long time. Indeed, on another day AEK may have been 2-0 or 3-0 up at half-time with both Ponce and Klonaridis thwarted by Xanthi goalkeeper Živko Živković from good positions.
The pattern of the game remained the same in the second half, with AEK bossing proceedings and Xanthi looking to hit the home side on the break, but without much in the way of clear scoring chances being created.
Xanthi’s best chance of the match came in the 59th minute when the Akrites broke forward, but AEK goalkeeper Vasilis Barkas was equal to Brito’s shot.
AEK then dominated the rest of the match and created a clutch of chances, with Livaja hitting the woodwork with an effort on 70 minutes. The Croatian was not to be denied, however, and he finally made the game safe in the last minute with a clinical finish.
STARTING LINEUPS
AEK: 1 Barkas, 2 Bakakis, 23 Hult, 4 Eikonomou, 19 Chygrynskiy, 95 Alef, 25 Galanopoulos, 31 Boye, 20 Mantalos, 17 Klonaridis, 22 Ponce
Xanthi: 20 Zivkovic, 32 Casado, 15 Chatziterzoglou, 31 Lisgaras, 4 Almeida, 8 Camara, 9 Kovačević, 7 Sarpong, 11 Khadda, 10 Đuričković, 26 Jendrisek
HIGHLIGHTS: AEK - XANTHI
