AEK soar to Super League summit after Larissa win
GREEK SUPERLEAGUE - MATCHDAY 3
AEK | 4 - 0 | Larissa |
---|---|---|
Mantalos 4' Klonaridis 35' Bakasetas 74' Araujo 86' |
AEK Athens took over at the top of the SuperLeague on Sunday after a comprehensive 4-0 home win over Lamia at the Olympic Stadium moved Manolo Jimenez’s team past Olympiacos.
First half goals from captain Petros Mantalos and Viktor Klonaridis set the Kitrinomavri well on their way, and further strikes in the second half from substitutes Tasos Bakasetas and Argentine forward Sergio Araujo completed a rampant victory.
It was unbeaten AEK’s second win in three matches played so far moving them on to seven points, but ahead of Olympiacos on goal difference after the reigning champions were held to a 1-1 draw at Xanthi on Saturday.
AEK, who have their first Europa League group stage match against Croatian club Rijeka to look forward to next Thursday, were at the races from the first whistle, with Mantalos opening the score after just four minutes with a great shot on the turn.
Klonaridis then doubled the advantage with a simple side-footed finish after good work from Croatian forward Marko Livaja, and it seemed only a matter of how many AEK would score with Larissa struggling to threaten the home goal.
Enter Bakasetas and fans favorite Araujo from the AEK bench mid-way through the half, and both players managed to get on the scoresheet late in the 74th and 86th minutes respectively with Larissa looking increasingly ragged.
It was an impressive display from AEK and the only negative point was that there were no fans inside the stadium to see it with the club still serving a supporter ban for crowd disturbances from last season.