Passed by “Kl. Vikelidis”, passed through… Faliro and AEK takes it home!

A breath away from the cup, Matias Almeida’s AEK!

A date that will be… written in golden letters in the “yellow and black” history is the May 8, 2023where “Union” passed (1-2) with an upset and as a champion from the headquarters of Aris and in combination with the defeat (1-0) of Panathinaikos by Olympiakos in “G. Karaiskakis”, is alone first at the top, in +3 from the “greens” and is embracing the 13th championship and its return to it after 5 years! Which will be sealed if they don’t lose to Volos on Sunday (5/14) in New Philadelphia for Game 10 of the Stoiximan Super League Play Offs.

THE Grey with a penalty kick and against the flow of the match, he opened the scoring in the 17th minute, but “Union”, which had many phases – before and after – reacted perfectly offensively (it left some gaps in the rear in the first half) and turned the game upside down with goals of Van Weert (23′) and Cumber (43′), while the Dutch forward also had beam at 65′.

In… the minds of the coaches:

THE Tolis Terzis lined him up Mars with system 4-3-3 and Cuesta down in the hearth. On the right end of the defense, Embakata, on the left, Mazikou and in the center of it, Nkulu and Piersman, with Fabiano on the bench due to calf problems. The midfield trio of Ducoure, Darinda and Rupp, with Mateo Garcia and Christodoulopoulos flanking Gray in attack. It is recalled that during the day Dabo was left out of the mission due to a disciplinary offense, with Panagidis taking his place.

On the other hand, Mr Matias Almeida keep it 4-4-1-1 for AEKhaving as a last-minute problem the Levi Garcia (intense malaise). Thus, he started as a starter in the league after 3.5 months o Van Weert. Athanasiadis under the posts, with Rota, Vida, Mukudi and Hadjisafi in defence, from right to left. Eliasson on the right in the midfield, Gacinovic on the left, Pineda moved next to Simanski, while Zuber next to Van Weert in the attack.

The match:

AEK showed its intentions from the first minutes. “Union” had possession of the ball – with Aris defending in their own half – and threatened consistently and even in close quarters, such as the shots of Cumber (2′) and Pineda (8′).

However, against the flow of the race, the home team found the lead. In the 13′ they ran a counterattack, o Mateo Garcia press area, with Pineda to overthrow him… foolishly. THE Basil of Fire did not initially give the offense, but was called to VAR and pointed to the white arrow. Gray performed center to the left (with Athanasiadis falling on the other side), on target (1-0 at 17′) on penalties after the wrong executions with Olympiakos and PAOK.

However, AEK didn’t… play them. Barely, he took one phase after another! And he was vindicated, initially tying the game at 23′. The phase started with stealing it Pineda down low, the same player – who… thus atoned for his poor reaction which brought the penalty – broke nicely into the area in Van Weertwith the Dutch forward making a superb move: He feinted to shoot with his left, brought the ball to his right and coolly executed for 1-1.

Of course, in his attempt to attack, the “two-headed” also let go spaces, which Aris took advantage of by making phases as well. Specifically, the team of Tolis Terzis had a “hot” three minutes (34′-36′) with long phases of Darida (34′) and Grey (35′ and 36′), with the first of course starting with possible offside.

However, before and after, AEK continued to produce phases, main speaker of which he was the Cumber (31′, 40′, 41′ and 43′) while he also had a great moment Van Weert in the 37th minute. In almost all of them, however, the Quest he was the one who put “stop”. Not however in the 43′when the Swiss ace coolly executed inside the area, finding the goal he was looking for and turning the match around (1-2) before the completion of the first part.

The two teams started the second half without changes. AEK continued to be the one with more offensive initiatives, with Aris of course also trying to take advantage of any gaps left by the visitors.

In the 49′ The Shimansky he stole, stepped into the area and made the turn, with the ball going for a corner, while at 55′ after a siege phase o Hadjisafi caught a powerful shot from outside the area, with Quest to block.

In the 58′ correctly disallowed for a clear offside goal by Gray, for changes to follow (Iturbe and Camacho for Christodoulopoulos and Doukoure for Aris and Amrabat for Eliasson for Aris)

The pace had dropped. Of course, AEK reached a breath from 1-3 at 65′with his one-piece shot Van Weert after Amrabad pass, to jerk it beam! Almeida’s team absolutely controlled the tempo until the final, reaching one of the sweetest victories in its history!

Watch the match live from here sport-fm.gr.

MVP: Zuber was their main attacking force, scoring the winning goal, but the distinction will go to Van Weertwho not only didn’t seem… cold (Almeida project) from his 3.5 months starting as a starter, but instead was excellent cashing it in with golems and awesome energy, while also having a beam!

Whistle: Correct decision even through VAR for the penalty that brought the 1-0, rightly of course it didn’t count for offside and Gray’s goal in the second half.

The compositions of the two teams:

Aris (Tolis Terzis): Cuesta – Embakata, Nkulu, Piersman, Mazikou – Doukoure (58′ Camacho), Darinda, Rupp – Mateo Garcia, Gray (85′ Kamara), Christodoulopoulos (58′ Iturbe).

AEK (Matias Almeida): Athanasiadis – Rota, Vida, Mukudi, Hadjisafi – Eliasson (59′ Amrabad), Simanski, Pineda (68′ Jonson), Gacinovic (83′ Fernandes) – Van Weert (83′ Zini), Zuber (67′ Mandalos).

Referee: Basil of Fire

First Assistant: Hasan Kula

Second Assistant: Andreas Meidanas

4th referee: Thanasis Tzilos

VAR: Aristotle Diamantopoulos

AVAR: Tryfon Petropoulos.