In a match that could have been “wiped out” from the first half, Panathinaikos needed the magic “touch” of the top scorer of the championship, in the 90th minute, in order to win the game against AEK 3-2, in a match held in OAKA stadium for the 26th match day of Super League’s championship.
Of course the image of the match during the first half could not reveal such a … dramatic continuity, as Panathinaikos was totally superior to its rival since the very beginning of the duel. The “Greens” warned quite early their rivals with Villafañes and Klonaridis, by circulating the ball in such a way that they could easily open AEK’s defense, pressing high without allowing the opponent to bring the ball close to Panathinaikos’ box. Within only three minutes, between the 24th and the 27th minute this image was transformed into a serious heading as both Klonaridis and Berg scored two goals (2-0) taking advantage of the spectacular creations and crossings of Villafañes. They caused instability to the opponent´s defense as these two strikers were in a permanent shooting position. The image of the match remained the same before the pause and the “Shamrock” was able to make the score wider in its favor, but the shoot of Villafañes from a very close range in the 42nd minute – in the most important moment after the 2-0 – was stopped by goalkeeper Barkas.
The image of the match changed drastically during the second period with the entrance of Christodoulopoulos and Pekhart into the pitch and the “weakening” of Panthinaikos giving the possibility to the home team to move closer to Vlachodimos’ box. Christodoulopoulos threatened with his shoots twice, before executing successfully a penalty – which was wrongly allowed against Villafañes – scoring for AEK (2-1). This goal gave an incentive to the home team which was able to draw in the 77th minute by Pekhart after he got a pass by Christodoulopoulos. Consequently, the aggressiveness of the hosts slowed down and it seemed that the game was balanced till the 90th minute in a crucial moment, when the “Greens” did an excellent combination in a counter attack from the center with Zeca, Leto and Lod, the latter gave an assist to Berg who scored again, offering Panathinaikos an important, from all aspects, victory; the second in an away match, after the one in Tripoli.
The lineups:
ΑΕΚ:Barkas, Galo, Vranies, Lambropoulos, Didak, Johansson, Simoes (63′ Bakasetas), Aidarevic (46′ Pekhart), Rodriguez (46′ Christodoulopoulos), Mantalos, Araujo.
Panathinaikos:Ο. Vlachodimos, Coulibaly, Koutroubis, Moledo, Hult, Zeca, Kourbelis, Villafañes (85′ Boumal), Mpoku (68′ Lod), Klonaridis (68′ Letο), Berg.
