Panionios continue promising form; AEL earn first playout win
SUPER LEAGUE PLAYOUTS - MATCHDAY 3
Panionios fuelled their survival bid with a gritty 1-0 triumph at Lamia in the Super League playouts, while AE Larissa fought back to defeat Volos NFC 3-1 at home.
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The Panthers have firmly clicked into gear. Displaying passion and desire in abundance, bottom side Panionios claimed three crucial points against Lamia on the road, emerging victorious 1-0 to move to within one point of Xanthi. Lamia sit in fourth place of the playout table with 31 points on the board.
Panionios are yet to be beaten in the playouts.
Panionios created the best chances throughout the first half. With nine minutes on the clock, Sotiris Tsiloulis passed up an ideal opportunity to give Panionios an early lead, shooting wide of the far post when powering through on the right flank.
Nevertheless, Tsiloulis did hit the target 18 minutes later.
Too fast for his opponents, the 25-year-old pulled to a shooting position, subsequently slotting his ensuing attempt under Devis Mboka Epassy after connecting with Novica Maximovic’s pass. However, with the half-time break approaching, Tsiloulis had to be substituted after receiving an unfortunate leg injury.
Panionios had a scare in the 59th minute of play. After Domingues had made a committed challenge against Ismail Sassi in the box, the referee pointed to the spot, but the call was rightly overturned following a Video Assistant Referee review.
During the remainder of the second half, Lamia huffed and puffed as Panionios were happy to sit deep in defence, but the closest they came was Danny Bejarano’s thundering effort from distance which was turned aside by Matic Kotnik.
Just to make matters worse for Lamia, Andreas Vasilogiannis was dismissed with his second yellow card of the game in the last minute.
Next week, Lamia will play against Volos on the road, while Panionios will take on Xanthi at home in another vital battle.
In what turned out to be an eventful encounter, AEL had to work hard for their maiden victory of the 2019/2020 Super League playouts, recovering from an early setback to defeat Volos 3-1 in Larissa.
In the 10th minute of the game, Volos had a perfect chance to immediately put themselves in the box seat, but Vasilis Mantzis’ weak penalty was comfortably saved by Ogmundur Kristinsson after Svetozar Markovic had brought down Franco Ferrari.
Volos did manage to take the lead five minutes later with a fantastic goal. Putting together a neat passing play, the visitors lashed the ball across the penalty area to Tasos Tsokanis, who emphatically turned it into the empty net at point blank range.
With the first half approaching its conclusion, AEL managed to get back on level terms, though, as Gabriel Torje thumped an emphatic penalty past Nikos Melissas after Evangelos Oikonomou had been penalised for a foul. Oikonomou was sent off with his second yellow card of the match in the process.
The goal arrived for AEL moments after Ali Ghazal had been dismissed with his second booking.
Midway through the second half, Volos’ task suddenly became doubly as difficult, as Lefteris Lyratzis was the third player to be sent for an early bath with two yellow cards.
Try as they might, the nine men of Volos couldn’t hold on at the AEL FC Arena, with Torje grabbing the winning goal in the 83rd minute after displaying wonderful skill inside the box. Jonathon Bustos completed AEL’s victory in stoppage time when clean through as his trickling attempt rolled over the line.
Possessing 33 points, AEL occupy third position of the playouts, with Volos three points behind in fifth. In their next match, the Larissa-based outfit will compete against Atromitos in Peristeri, while Volos will face Lamia at home.
