Friendly defeat by Lokomotiva Zagreb for… experimental AEK

In the coach’s mind:

Matias Almeida lined up AEK with 4-2-3-1, with Stankovic under the posts, Radonia, Mohammadi, Mukudi, Mitoglou in defense, Ionson, Galanopoulos on the axis, with Eliasson, Gacinovic on the sides and Zini behind the advanced Van Weert.

The match

AEK entered the pitch better, willing to find the spaces to threaten Zubaric’s goal. The first good moment came in the 7th minute. Zini passed the ball to Gacinovic, who laid it on Galanopoulos, with the Croatian goalkeeper clearing for a corner.

At 23′, o Gacinovic took a free-kick from the flanks, which was initially – wrongly – awarded as a penalty, with Zubaric clearing for a corner. In the 26th minute, Mohammadi made the run and the cross, but the Rants he didn’t shoot as well as he would have liked. A minute later, “Union” had a great opportunity to equalize, but o Van Weert failed to beat the opposing goalkeeper from a sideline position.

In the 28th minute, Lokomotiva managed to open the scoring. After a corner kick, Marsinai headed in the front post to make it 1-0 to the Croatians, his first final of the game.

In the 32nd minute, Almeida’s team threatened again. Zini found him Galanopoulos outside the area, but the Greek midfielder’s shot went just over Zubaric’s crossbar. In the 39th minute, Stankovic he misjudged the phase, but immediately managed to correct it, before it became 2-0. Thus, the two teams went into the break, with the Croatians leading 1-0.

Matias Almeida lined up his team in the second half without changes, with the first important moment in this coming in the 50′. After a nice action from the right, o Zini he became a receiver and took the shot inside the area, but the ball went wide. Five minutes later, Lokomotiva had a great chance to make it 2-0, but his shot Milisevic went just wide of Stankovic’s left post.

At 58, the Van Weert he got down and shot on the move, with Zubaric clearing hard for a corner. In the 64th minute and after a corner kick, the ball reached the Mukudi after a steal by Galanopoulos, he made an impressive feint but sent the ball over the Lokomotiv goal.

A minute later, Mr Eliasson took a free-kick brilliantly from outside the area, with the Croatian goalkeeper making an impressive save. This was also the last important moment, with the game ending at 75′, as originally agreed.

More in a while…