AEK sweep aside Aris to go second
SUPER LEAGUE PLAYOFFS - MATCHDAY 6
AEK moved two points clear of PAOK in the race for second place in the Super League Play Offs on Sunday after defeating Aris 4-1 at the Kleanthis Vikelidis Stadium in Thessaloniki.
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Massimo Carrera’s men took a 24th-minute lead through Nelson Oliveira but were pegged back four minutes later when Bruno Gama’s deflected effort went in off AEK defender Dmytro Chygrynskyy.
The second half belonged to AEK, however, with goals from Oliveira - his second of the night - Andre Simoes, and Damian Szymanski wrapping up a comprehensive win for the Kitrinomavri.
The three-point haul allowed AEK to take advantage of PAOK’s slip up in their 2-2 draw with OFI Crete 24 hours earlier, and move clear in second place with four matches to play.
THE MATCH
Having seen PAOK stutter once again in Heraklion on Saturday, a buoyant AEK came into this match looking to get maximum points to move clear of their rivals for second spot, which yields a place in the Champions League qualifiers.
Aris, meanwhile, began the playoffs with a come-from-behind victory against OFI, but since then had gone four matches without a victory - something which means they have been unable to put much distance between themselves and OFI for the final European position.
It was clear from the kick-off who the form team was, with AEK taking the game by the scruff of the neck and looking to threaten through their attacking triumvirate of Marko Livaja, Oliveira, and Daniele Verde.
And after a few half-chances, the breakthrough arrived in the 24th minute. And it was an excellent strike from Portuguese forward Oliveira. The 28-year-old received possession from Verde with his back to goal, but turned impressively before firing a measured, left-footed shot past Julian Cuesta in the Aris goal.
Aris, however, found a relatively quick response, with Gama drawing the hosts level albeit in fortunate circumstances when his shot took a wicked deflection off AEK’s Ukrainian defender Chygrynskyy before beating goalkeeper Vasilis Barkas.
AEK fashioned several good chances to score before half-time, but captain Petros Mantalos, among others, failed to beat Cuesta.
Half-time did nothing to stem the tide of AEK attacks, and the visitors fired a first warning shot just five minutes after the restart through Oliveira, who was denied by Cuesta again.
But just three minutes later, a second goal for AEK arrived when Mantalos set up a counter-attack, picking the perfect moment to release Oliveira with a brilliant through pass. The Portuguese forward raced through and produced a clinical finish to make it 2-1 to the visitors.
The heads of the Aris players seemed to collectively drop at that point, and from then on the match result was never in doubt. Simoes got his name on the scoresheet after 62 minutes with a shot from outside the penalty area which took a slight deflection before finding its way into the back of the net.
An expected flurry of substitutions soon followed, and the changes added more freshness to the AEK attack with Christos Albanis, Sergio Araujo and Szymanski coming on. It only seemed a matter of time before the fourth goal would come, and it surely arrived with six minutes left. Paulinho initially fired in a shot on goal, and Szymanski diverted the ball past a helpless Cuesta to make it 4-1.
STARTING LINEUPS
Aris: 23 Cuesta (GK), 92 Rose, 69 Korhut, 5 Delizisis, 26 Matilla, 9 Diamantopoulos, 88 Sasha, 40 Bagalianis, 16 Gama, 18 Martinez, 24 Mancini
AEK: 1 Barkas (GK), 3 Lopes, 19 Chygrynskyy, 24 Svarnas, 27 Paulinho, 6 Krsticic, 7 Verde, 8 Simoes, 20 Mandalos, 10 Livaja, 18 Oliveira
