THE Panathinaikos of the 10 players from the 17th minute (Javi Hernandez sent off) withstood “Apostolos Nikolaidis” against AEKthanks to the great interventions of Alban Lafon, with the “white” 0-0 “sealing” the image of the match and giving the “yellow and black” the opportunity to escape with 6 points from their pursuers in 2nd place in the battle for this year’s title.
AEK had the first good moment in the match in the 11th minute from a “carnage”, when two Panathinaikos players found the ball with their heads from a throw-in, it ended up in Pereira who shot with one, but Lafon showed very good reflexes and saved in a corner. In the 16th minute, Koita’s direct foul went out, while seconds later on the other side of the field, Tettei had a shot, but Strakosia firmly blocked.
In the 17th minute, in a vertical pass to Zini, Hernandez in his attempt to cut him overturned him just before the area and was sent off with a straight red by the Turkish refereeHalil Umut Meller. In the execution of the foul in the 20th minute, the ball went against Marin’s first shot, while Koita’s second attempt, found among Panathinaikos players, hit Lafon’s right post and went out for a corner.
In the 30th minute, Lafon made an amazing save on Mukudi’s nailed and “crazy” header, while in the 39th minute, Panathinaikos had its biggest moment, when, due to Tetei’s tremendous energy and turning inside, Kyriakopoulos caught a strong shot and Strakosias saved with his left foot.
In the second half, AEK with a numerical advantage continued to control the match and in the 55th minute, Lafon made another very good intervention, when from Marin’s assist, Varga made a terrible turn and found himself in a four-on-four, but the Ivorian goalkeeper saved the Hungarian forward’s shot.
Lafon made another intervention in his “window” in the 79th minute in a shot by Joao Mario. In the 84th minute, Strakosia in turn made a great save on an impressive shot by Cerin, with Calabria then unable to score on Zauri’s turn, although it seemed to be offside.
Tasos Bakasetas had another good moment in the 90′, but his shot went just wide, while in the third minute of stoppage time, Zarouri’s shot went to surprise Strakosia, who chased away and had his defenders in the right position, who moved away to a corner in the last good moment of the match.
Referee: Halil Umut Meller (Turkey)
Yellow: 39′ Ingason – 26′ Mukudi, 29′ Georgiev (bench player), 42′ Pelios, 45′ Relvas, 69′ Vidra (bench player), 87′ Joao Mario, 90’+2′ Marin
Discharges: 17′ Javi Hernandez (direct red)
The compositions of the two teams
PANATHINAICOS (Rafa Benitez): Lafon, Palmer-Brown, Ingason, Javi Hernandez, Calabria, Cerin, Kontouris (69′ Bakaetas), Kyriakopoulos, Antino (76′ Zarouri), Tamborda (69′ Pelistri), Tettei (88′ Padovic).
AEK (Marko Nikolic): Strakosia, Mukudi, Relvas, Pelios (46′ Pendrais), Rota, Pineda (73′ Eliasson), Marin, Koita, Pereira (58′ Joao Mario), Varga, Zini (58′ Jovic).
Source: RES-MPE
