AEK held by Aris in Athens
SUPER LEAGUE PLAYOFFS - MATCHDAY 3
AEK were held to a 2-2 draw by a battling Aris side at the Olympic Stadium on Saturday as their bid to reclaim second spot from PAOK in the Super League Playoff standings hit the buffers.
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Massimo Carrera’s AEK side wasted a plethora of first-half chances in a one-sided first half which saw Aris lose two defenders to injury. And they were made to pay for those misses 10 minutes into the second half when Aris went 1-0 up from the penalty spot thanks to Bruno Gama after Petros Mantalos had committed a needless foul on Abou Ba. The AEK skipper also received a yellow card for this trouble.
But the Kitrinomavri were relentless in their pursuit of a goal to get back in the match and they got a breakthrough just after the hour mark when Sergio Araujo found the net to level matters from Mantalos’ pass.
However, Aris then went ahead again against the run of play with a goal on the counter attack through Nicolas Martinez with 15 minutes left, but AEK once again found a quick-ish response with an equalizing penalty scored by Nelson Oliveira four minutes from full-time.
Aris survived five minutes of added time to claim a point - a result which doesn’t help AEK’s bid to wrest the second Champions League qualifying spot from PAOK, who had displaced the Enosi just a few hours before by beating OFI Crete 3-1 at the Toumba in Thessaloniki.
THE MATCH
Saturday’s second match saw AEK welcome Aris to Athens with the home side two points ahead of PAOK in the battle for second place.
The Kitrinomavri were looking to at least maintain that gap and try to even add to that advantage with a victory. Aris knew that while a win would be nice for them, even a point would suffice for the Thessaloniki club who seem the favorites for the last European berth.
AEK were on top right from the kick-off and Araujo was unlucky not to give the home side the lead in the fourth minute after he latched on to Damian Szymanski’s headed pass before being denied from close range by Aris goalkeeper Jilian Cuesta.
Carrera’s team controlled possession for long spells and only had themselves to blame for not being a couple of goals to the good by the time half-time came around.
The two best chances after Araujo’s early miss came towards the end of the first half, with Mantalos first to be denied by Cuesta’s reflex save after being played in by Marko Livaja’s excellent pass.
Then it was Mantalos’ turn to have a go at creating with the AEK skipper squaring the ball across goal for Szymanski, who failed to hit the target with a side-footed effort when in a good position on the edge of the penalty area.
Aris had to settle for being second best for long periods of the game, and their night was not made easier by the loss of two defenders. Fran Velez (13’) and Hugo Souza (30’) had to be replaced due to injuries and it had the effect of unsettling the visitors’ gameplan.
AEK did not make such an assured start to the second half as they did to the first and this gave Aris a bit of confidence, with the visitors looking to threaten the home goal in the opening minutes.
But it was a moment of carelessness on the part of the home team rather than a piece of creativity from the visitors which brought the opening goal with Mantalos guilty of a silly foul on Ba.
The Greek international pulled Ba back off the ball and was punished via a VAR review with the visitors being awarded a penalty. Gama stepped up to beat AEK ‘keeper Vasilis Barkas with a powerful spot-kick and it was up to AEK to try and find a response.
Thankfully for the home side, the response was almost instant, with an equalizing goal coming after 62 minutes.
Mantalos, who was released with a pass from defence by Helder Lopes, made up for his error of judgement for the penalty by teeing up Araujo, who made no mistake from close-range with a side-footed effort to level the match.
AEK were looking extremely dangerous down the left flank and Lopes’ forward forays almost yielded another goal for the home side in the 69th minute. The Portuguese crossed perfectly for Szymanski, but the latter’s side-footed effort was off target.
It seemed that AEK would push on from there, and indeed they did. But despite all their positive attacking play, the home side were caught cold on the counter attack by Aris when Martin Tonso crossed for Martinez to score with a beautifully-placed header.
But once again AEK found a response, this time from the penalty spot after Tonso fouled Oliveira. The Portuguese forward dusted himself down to score from 12 yards and put AEK back on level terms.
And that’ the way it stayed with neither side able to grab a winning goal in a frantic finish.
STARTING LINEUPS
AEK: 1 Barkas (Gk), 3 Lopes, 24 Svarnas, 4 Oikonomou, 2 Bakakis, 6 Krsticic, 5 Szymanski, 10 Livaja, 20 Mantalos, 7 Verde, 11 Araujo
Aris: 23 Cuesta (Gk), 3 Souza, 5 Delizisis, 44 Velez, 92 Rose, 16 Gama, 26 Matilla, 88 Sasha, 28 Fetfatzidis, 24 Mancini, 19 Tonso
