With the strength of their home base and 32,000 fans, AEK defeated Panathinaikos 1-0 on Sunday in the classic Athens derby in the context of Game 17 of the Super League, ending the “green” unbeaten streak. The only goal was scored by Orbelin Pineda in the 68th minute, and thanks to this, the Union reduced its gap from the Greens to four points, giving new interest to the championship. Panathinaikos scored in the 90+8 minute, AEK missed a penalty in the 90+10 minute.

The Greens, however, complain that shortly before the goal of the Union, a firecracker exploded near the goalkeeper of the guests, which fell, hooking his ears.

From the first minute of the match, the orientation of the Panathinaikos players was clear: not to let AEK get into the rhythm. Those five minutes, ten minutes of suffocating pressure, which characterize the team of coach Matias Almeidas and especially their “hot” staff, “strangle” the opponent.

True to their plan, the Greens did not allow the hosts to create threatening situations, and Senkefeld, Magnusson dominated whenever AEK tried to press from the air.

At the same time, they “froze” the game when they could, and therefore the whole half passed without … suspicion of a phase. The hosts “went into the box” only twice, when the shots of Araujo (33′), Pineda (39′) found the bodies. Only the statistics of the last attempts are recorded, as well as the throw of Magnusson … desperation for 30′.

The bottom line is that coach Ivan Jovanovic’s plan worked great at the OPAP Arena. Mr. Almeida was again the one who had to find a solution, just like last Tuesday in Ioannina. This time AEK was not far behind in the score (losing 2:0 to PAS at half-time), but in this derby the draw was tantamount to… victory for Panathinaikos.

The first major moment of the derby belonged to the Greens. In the 54th minute, Bernard made a great individual effort and shot through Athanasiadis’ window, but the Greek goalkeeper went out in a very healthy action.

The score was opened in the 68th minute in favor of the hosts. Pineda was in the penalty area on the left and at the same time turned the ball over. Brignoli found him, but the ball deflected and hit the net, causing great jubilation in the stands.

From that moment on, Szymanski and Johnson began to act in the center, cutting off all the “optimistic” attacks of the guests. Mr. Yovanovitch played everything in his power to “escape” from New Philadelphia and “touched” the equalizer in the 8th minute of stoppage time, when Fotis Ioannidis also passed Athanasiadis, but sent the ball from a very wide angle into the bar.

Shortly after, Fernandez won a penalty when Schenkfeld knocked him down and Levi Garcia took over. Brnioli pushed back, prolonging the intrigue for a few minutes.

AEK held on and took the derby without creating a classic moment except for a penalty! But her formidable place played a catalytic role after reaching 6 consecutive wins at OPAP Arena, where she proved unbeatable.

Source: RES-IPE