Krsticic wins it for AEK
SUPER LEAGUE - MATCHDAY 22
AEK escaped from Peristeri with all three points thanks to Nenad Krsticic, whose solitary goal gave Massimo Carrera’s side a narrow 1-0 win over Atromitos at the Peristeri Municipal Stadium on Sunday.
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With the returning Sergio Araujo making his debut for AEK after recently rejoining the club in the January transfer window, the headlines went to Kristicic, who scored a vital 65th-minute goal to claim all three points for the Kitrinomavri.
Atromitos threatened sporadically in the match, but AEK were in control for long spells and should have made more of some clear scoring chances that came their way.
In the end, Krsticic’s goal proved enough, and AEK claimed a win that tightened their grip on third spot, although the goalscoring Serbian midfielder was red-carded in the dying seconds for a second bookable offence.
The Enosi now have 41 points, opening up a seven-point gap with fourth-placed Panathinaikos, who were hosting PAOK in Sunday’s later match later on Sunday night.
THE MATCH
Atromitos’ top-six hopes took a big hit last week as they were beaten by last-placed Panionios, and they were hoping that a return to Peristeri this weekend would bring them a win against AEK.
Carrera’s charges, however, who played out a 0-0 draw against Olympiacos in last weekend’s derby stalemate, were boosted ahead of this one with the return of Araujo.
AEK began the match strongly and were almost ahead after six minutes when Araujo headed goalwards from a Helder Lopes corner, only for Kyriakos Kivrakidis to clear the ball off the line.
Araujo was in the thick of the action again in the 13th minute but his header following a cross from Lopes after good work from Livaja was well wide of the mark. AEK continued to press high up the pitch and forced the home side into making a plethora of mistakes, with the Kitrinomavri dominating possession for long spells.
AEK’s best chance of the first half cam=e on the half-hour mark when Krsticic exchanged passes with Marko Livaja and Araujo, who then picked out Dian Szymanski, missed the target by the narrowest of margins.
Araujo was replaced by Daniele Verde at half-time, but the pattern of the game did not chance much. There was a solid chance for Atromitos to score after 55 minutes when Petros Giakoumakis failed to convert a cross from Tasos Androutsos.
AEK began to step up a gear after the hour mark, and the breakthrough finally came in the 64th minute when Verde released Szymanski, who crossed for Krsticic to score with a well-directed header.
And that’s the way the scoreline stayed until the final whistle, with the only blemish for AEK being the late dismissal of Krsticic for a second yellow card offence.
STARTING LINEUPS
ATROMITOS: 16 MEGYERI (GK), 4 GOUTAS, 7 BUSULADZIC, 29 STROUGIS, 3 KATRANIS, 14 ANDROUTSOS, 6 HARISSIS, 27 DAVIOTIS, 10 NSIKULU, 20 GIAKOUMAKIS, 19 KIVRAKIDIS
AEK: 1 BARKAS (GK), 2 BAKAKIS, 3 LOPES, 4 ECONOMOU, 19 CHYGRYNSKYY, 24 SVARNAS, 5 SZYMANSKI, 6 KRSTICIC, 8 SIMOES, 10 LIVAJA, 11 ARAUJO
HIGHLIGHTS
