AEK held by Panathinaikos in goalless derby
 

GREEK SUPERLEAGUE - MATCHDAY 9

Panathinaikos and AEK shared the spoils of an absorbing SuperLeague Athens derby clash on Saturday as neither side found a cutting edge to break the deadlock at the Olympic Stadium as the headline clash of Matchday 9 ended 0-0.

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A closely-contested affair between the two SuperLeague rivals did offer enough chances for a goal or two on the night, but a combination of wasteful finishing and quality goalkeeping and defending ensured that there was nothing to separate the pair.

Panathinaikos will be the happier of the two sides with the result, which helps them stabilize after last week’s 2-0 defeat to PAOK, while for AEK it represents a lost opportunity given that leaders PAOK were held 1-1 at Atromitos earlier on Saturday.

PAOK lead the standings with 23 points, while Atromitos are second two points behind. AEK are third on 17 points, meaning that the gap with PAOK is still six points after nine matches played.

THE MATCH

Panathinaikos welcomed AEK in the headline fixture of Matchday 9, with AEK boss Marinos Ouzounidis facing the club he departed only a few months ago after guiding the Greens through a season of financial turmoil.

AEK headed into the match with a ‘must win’ mentality if they wanted to keep their Super League title challenge on track, and they certainly had form on their side coming off consecutive 4-0 wins in all competitions.

Unfortunately the match did not really live up to the hype in the first 45 minutes in terms of exciting football, as both teams looked to be feeling each other out to see who might blink first without giving too much away.

It was AEK who looked more composed in possession, but there was little threat and it was the home side who actually came closest to scoring in the first half on the half-hour mark.

The chance fell to Italian forward Federico Macheda, who was sent through on goal after an interception by Christos Donis. But, with only AEK goalkeeper Vasilis Barkas to beat, somehow Macheda contrived to shoot straight at the big keeper and the chance was gone.

Both teams raised the tempo of the game after half-time with AEK’s captain Petros Mantalos sending over a cross which was narrowly missed by both Ezequiel Ponce and Lucas Boye.

On the hour mark Marko Livaja then stung the palms of Greens goalkeeper Sokratis Dioudis with a powerful shot, with Mantalos then sending a free-kick just past the post as the visitors piled on the pressure.

Panathinaikos responded with a couple of great chances themselves. First after 66 minutes Giannis Bouzoukis somehow missed the target when it seemed a goal was certain when the ball fell into his path following a rebound from Mattias Johansson’s initial shot.

Then two minutes later Ilias Chatzitheodoridis saw his effort saved by Barkas when a pass to Emanuel Insua or Macheda seemed the better option.

Both teams seemed to run out of ideas as the match entered its closing stages, with the players from both clubs seemingly preferring not to give anything away as the clock ran down.

STARTING LINEUPS

PAO: 1 Dioudis, 2 Johansson, 77 Coulibaly, 44 Pouggouras, 24 Mavromatis, 3 Insua, 21 Kourbelis, 8 C Donis, 11 Chatzigiovannis, 18 Bouzoukis, 9 Macheda.

AEK: 1 Barkas, 2 Bakakis, 4 Oikonomou, 19 Chyrgrynskiy, 23 Hult, 25 Galanopoulos, 8 Simoes, 20 Mantalos, 10 Livaja, 22 Ponce, 31 Boye.

HIGHLIGHTS: PANATHINAIKOS - AEK

by Graham Wood

Image Source: to10.gr

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