SLGR Matchday 10 Recap: AEK Win Derby, Go Joint Top With Atromitos
SLGR Matchday 10 Recap: AEK Win Derby, Go Joint Top With Atromitos
GREEK SUPERLEAGUE - MATCHDAY 10
AGONAsport’s George Tsitsonis brings you a full recap of matchday 10 action in the Greek SuperLeague. For all the latest fixtures and result visit here. For the the up to date Supereague standings visit here.
AEK joined Atromitos atop the Greek Super League standings after their hard-fought 1-0 victory over PAOK in the ‘Derby of the Dikefaloi’ on Sunday evening. Marko Livaja’s 25th minute strike was the only thing that separated the two sides in a physical affair that yield 38 fouls, 11 yellow cards and three red cards. Sergio Araujo’s red card reduced AEK to 10 men as early as the 8th minute. However, despite being down a man it was AEK that scored as Livaja slid home after good work by the home side. Soon after PAOK were down to 10 as well as Carlos Zambrano picked up his second yellow card in the 35th minute.
There were relatively few clear chances the rest of the way with quality giving way to physicality. Toward the end Diego Biseswar picked up two yellow cards in quick succession and was sent off as was AEK boss Manolo Jimenez.
Atromitos could only manage a 0-0 draw at home with Panionios on Saturday. Despite failing to record a win, the point keeps Atromitos top of the table on 20 points along with AEK, and preserves the Peristeri side’s undefeated start to the season,
Olympiacos used a brace from Felipe Pardo to demolish Platanias 5-1. It was a comfortable win for Takis Lemonis’ men as they move to within three points of first place in the league. Olympiacos also got goals from Pape Abdou Cisse, Alberto Botia, and Karim Ansarifard. Platanias scored late on through Giannis Papanikolaou.
Panathinaikos continued to show their difficulties on the road after they went down to Asteras Tripolis on Saturday 1-0. Juan Munafo’s goal five minutes from time giving Asteras the three points. The victory was only the Tripoli’s side second win of the season while Panathinaikos continue their winless run away from home.
The weekend’s wildest match came between Apollon Smirnis and PAS Giannina. The 4-3 win for Apollon featured three lead changes, seven goals total, four of which came within a 13-minute spell in the first half. In the back and forth encounter, Sebastian Bartolini gave hosts Apollon the lead before Kostas Mavropanos and and Pedro Conde engineered a PAS turnaround. An own goal saw the two teams head into the break tied 2-2. The second half saw an Antonio Anete penalty kick in the 74th minute give the advantage back to Apollon as they tacked another one on in the 87th through Christos Albanis. Conde scored a second in injury-time, but it was too little too late as Apollon held on for the win.
Elsewhere, Kerkyra and Larisa played out a 1-1 draw. Sandi Crizman’s opener for Larisa cancelled out by a Giorgos Pamlidis penalty just befor halftime. Xanthi picked up a fine 3-1 win away to Panetolikos. Brito scored a brace within the first eight minutes and Erik Jendrisek made it to 3-0 for Xanthi in the 36th minute. Panetolikos could only reply with a Franco Mazurek strike two minutes from time.
On Monday, Levadiakos stumbled once again, only managing to draw Lamia in a scoreless match.
Matchday MVP - Marko Livaja (AEK)
The Croatian striker gets the nod for Matchday MVP for his goal and all-around performance in AEK’s derby win over PAOK. The 24-year-old has struggled to make an impact through scoring, but his general play and hard work has won AEK supporters over. He has already proven to be a smart loan move (from Las Palmas) by AEK and the desire to make his stay permanent is already growing.
Goal of the Matchday - Juan Munafo (Asteras Tripolis)
The 29-year-old Argentine won the match for Asteras in the 85th minute over Panathinaikos. Munafo was at the right place at the right time at the far post as he acted quickly to Walter Iglesias’ flick-on header to produce a fantastic diving header of his own.
Save of the Matchday - Zivko Zivkovic (Xanthi)
A purely world-class bit of goalkeeping from the Serbian. In the 49th minute, the 28-year-old helped preserve his team’s three-goal advantage by making a wonderful double save off of a header then a truly superb reflex stop off of Jorge Diaz’s close range blast.
Play of the Matchday - Clarck N’Sikulu (Platanias)
There wasn’t much for Platanias to be happy about in the 5-1 loss to Olympiacos. However, the team’s only goal was a thing of beauty. The architect of the magic was Congolese striker Clarck N’Sikulu. The French-born attacker produced a fine piece of skill on the left, evading tackles by Diogo Figueiras and Pape Abdoue Cisse on the endline before cutting back superbly for a simple tap-in by teammate Giannis Papanikolaou. N’Sikulu’s skillful run and cutback was the weekend’s most memorable move.
Team Performance of the Matchday - AEK
After coming through an intense 90 minutes against AC Milan on Thursday, it was always going to be a tough battle against PAOK on Sunday. Manolo Jimenez’s men showed the character needed to sustain a title challenge with their 1-0 win in the weekend’s big derby. Despite being reduced to 10-men early on, AEK found a way to score despite being down a player and held on for the victory in an extremely physical battle.
Surprise of the Matchday - Asteras Tripolis
Top marks to Asteras for their win over Panathinaikos. After only one win in their first nine matches, Asteras took advantage of Panathinaikos’ poor away form to pick up the victory. The three points does not lift Asteras out of the relegation zone, but it does get them off the bottom of the table.
Disappointment of the Matchday - PAOK
While Platanias’ capitulation away to Olympiacos deserves some mention, the disappointment of the week must be awarded to PAOK. Once again, the Thessaloniki giants go away from home for a big match and once again they come away with nothing to show. While there was no shortage of fight or effort from Razvan Lucescu’s side, there was a distinct lack of quality throughout especially in front of goal. PAOK are still well placed to challenge for the Super League, but they will have to figure out a way to win or at least take a point from matches like these.
by George Tsitsonis
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