Her imposing… reception AEK to Olympic and “Union” with one foot in the final!
After more than 20 years, AEK welcomed the Piraeus at its physical headquarters, at the OPAP Arena in New Philadelphia and prevailing upon me 3-0 took a huge step ahead of the second semi-final of the Novibet Greek Cup. At the same time, she got her first victory over the “red and whites” after 2018.
Matias Almeida’s team – although it went down with mass rotation (and to a lesser extent that of Mitchell)- she showed her quality, making use of the mistakes of Olympiakos in the first two goals. THE Levi 1-0 in the 3rd minute, his own goal Samaseku for 2-0 in the 28th minute and the final 3-0 again by Levi with a penalty shootout in stoppage time. Two beams The Gary for the people of Piraeus who also had their chances, one The Latch for the hosts. His goal was correctly disallowed Embilla at 2-0.
Huge tension in the finaleinitially after an AEK counter-attack that was stopped (Pineda came out all alone) because Valbuena returned to the field without permission and then (to a lesser extent) for the penalty phase that was not given immediately, even though it was an obvious violation.
In… the minds of the coaches:
He… said and did it Matias Almeidawho listed her AEK with full rotation and with its classic system 4-4-1-1. Stankovic under the posts, with Sidibe, Mitoglou, Tzavella and Hadjisafi making up the defensive four from right to left. Galanopoulos and Mandalos in the central midfield duo, with Eliasson and Gatsinovic on the right and left ends of the midfield, respectively. Zuber was moving next to Garcia.
Rotation – to a significant extent, but of course to a lesser extent – and system 4-3-3 for Olympic The Mitchell (in the end Hames and Masouras were left out of the mission, as was of course Kanos who went to Spain due to the death of his mother). Under the goalposts were Tzolakis, Vrousai on the right end of the defense, Rembtsiuk on the left and Papastathopoulos and Doi duo as stoppers. A central trio of Embila, Samaseku and Huang, with Gary Rodriguez and Biel flanking El Arabi in attack.
The match:
With a slight delay due to the low visibility from the smoke cannons and also a flag (which came down), the match began.
A hot start from AEK in the match – just like every coach dreams of his team in a derby – with a goal just in 3′: Consecutive mistakes by the guests (in order of Papastathopoulos, Vrousai and Doi), with Cumber to win outside the area of Olympiakos, to break within it to Levi, who placed perfectly above Tzolakis. And… hell in the OPAP Arena!
AEK tried to take advantage of the momentum. Of course, the “red and white” quickly began to gain yards on the field, but at the same time made several mistakes. However, they came within a breath of an immediate equaliser, at 14′. THE El Arabi he produced an excellent ball for him Gary Rodriguez who ran very quickly on the counterattack from the left, bent down and took a powerful shot that ended up on his post Stankovic. Then his shot It’s pouring he went out
The hosts were trying to find solutions against the strengthened center of Piraeus with some deep fillings, which were also carried out by the second team. In the 25′ The El Arabi took out for him Bielwho was overtaken by Stankovic and walked away.
To get to 28′, when AEK took advantage of another mistake by their opponents, taking advantage of their own great quality. THE Cumber made an excellent move from the right into the area with a succession of terrific feints, o Latch he found the ball with his knee and – where the phase seemed to fade – o Samaseku headed for a corner but sent the ball into the net.
After a ten-minute period without phases, AEK threatened again at 38′: His crosses Hadjisafi from the left, passed by Levi the ball, while Doe and Ryabchiuk they could not remove. His crosses Eliasson then, but o Levi he didn’t get the header well.
In the 39′ Mitchell advanced to his first changewho was forced. THE Bielwho in the previous days was facing problems, gave his place to Buttucci who carried it out debut of. Nothing else changed until the end of the first half, with the score remaining at 2-0.
With a double substitution, Mitchell started the second half for Olympiakos, with Fortune and Rodney to pass to the positions of Samasekou and Vrousai, respectively.
First good time, at 50′ for AEK. THE Levi hit impressively, with them Papastathopoulos and Doe to obstruct him, no foul according to referee and VAR.
Two big moments in a row, one for each team with beam! Initially, Olympiacos at 56′after a riot in the area of AEK, with Gary (second goal in the match) and after a while (61′) the “yellow and black” with Latch!
Bundled changes afterwards. Among them, hers Vida instead of Javella in 73′ it was forced. In the next minute (74′) Olympiacos found the net, but the goal did not count for offside. After a foul, o Bakabu he made a drift shot and Stankovic altered the trajectory of the ball. THE Embilla up close he did the… follow, but he was exposed.
In the 78′ the guests threatened him Valbuena and on the caps and AEK with them Gacinovic (78′) and Araujo (79′).
Entering the delays, huge tension broke out! THE Pineda left all alone and Nikola Dabanovic stopped the game, after Valbuena who had been temporarily sidelined, returned to the field of play without an order. Violent protests followed, as well as skirmishes between players and members of the delegation of the two teams, with… the fire fortunately extinguished.
AEK got a boost, they initially threatened him Gacinovic and then the same player in the 10th minute of stoppage time won a clear penalty from him Doe. Dabanovic needed VAR, gave the offense, with the Levi to perform accurately for the final 3-0.
MVP: The distinction will go to Zuber who had a hand in both the first two goals, knowing the crowd’s apotheosis. Close by, of course, Garcia with the two goals, as well as Mitoglou and Sidibe.
The whistle: Embila’s goal was rightly disallowed as he was exposed. AEK’s penalty was correctly awarded, but it was an easy enough phase to require VAR. The “Union” also protested about a penalty against Levia. Some mistakes in the disciplinary part as well.
Watch the match live here.
The compositions of the two teams:
AEK (Matias Almeida): Stankovic – Sidibe, Mitoglou, Tzavellas (73′ Vida), Hadjisafi – Eliasson (83′ Amrabat), Galanopoulos (64′ Simanski), Mandalos (83′ Pineda), Gatsinovic – Garcia, Zuber (64′ Araujo).
On the bench for the home team were: Theocharis, Franson, Van Weert, Kosidis.
Olympiacos (Mitchell Gonzalez): Tzolakis – Vrousai (46′ Rodinei), Papastathopoulos, Doi, Reabchiuk – Embila, Samasekou (46′ Fortunis), Huang (66′ Valbuena) – Gary Rodriguez, El Arabi (66′ Bakabou), Biel (39′ Butucci).
On the bench for the visitors were: Paschalakis, Ramon, Retsos, Kasami.
Referee: Nikola Dabanovic (Montenegro)
First Assistant: Vladan Todorovic (Montenegro)
Second assistant: Srdan Jovanovic (Montenegro)
4th referee: Vasileios Fotias (Pellas)
VAR: Krzysztof Jakubiek (Poland)
I am currently a news writer for News Bulletin247 where I mostly cover sports news. I have always been interested in writing and it is something I am very passionate about. In my spare time, I enjoy reading and spending time with my family and friends.
