He blocked AEK, took full advantage of the opportunities presented to him and OFI got another great victory at “Jedi Koule” (2-0)!
Valdas Drabrauskas’ team was excellent on the field and celebrated another big three points at home, after those against Aris and PAOK.
The presence of Almeida’s players (who also had many absences to manage) was poor throughout the match, with the “yellow and black” creating phases, but not having a classic chance.
This was also the first defeat for “Union” after seven months and 15 games in the Greek league, when they were defeated by Olympiakos at the OPAP Arena, which now goes to play against Ajax, coming from a bad result.
They didn’t “come out” either changes to the Argentinian technician, as opposed to those of the Lithuanian, with Dicko to go into the match in the 67th minute and a little later to give the victory to the Cretans, who had preceded with Felipe just in the 5th minute.
In the minds of the coaches:
THE Valdas Dabrauskas lined up OFI with 3-4-1-2, with Bowman in goal and Karo, Vouros and Pasalidis in the center of defense, with Larson and Thorarinson in a back-half role. In the axis were Gaiegos, Meyado, Bakic, Glazer, behind the promoted Luis Felipe.
THE Matias Almeida lined up with 4-4-2 and seven changes compared to the previous match against Atromitos. Stankovic was under the posts, Rota, Mitoglou, Cullens, Mohammadi in defense, Simanski, Galanopoulos in midfield, with Pisaro on the left and Eliasson on the right and Zuber behind Van Weert.
The match
The hosts entered the game better and after warning in the 4th minute with his header Midsummer (blocked by Stankovic), they managed to score a minute later. Mejado found Bakics with a nice cross (with the AEK players losing their positions), he crossed from the left, with Felipe to enter the path of the ball and with a close header make it 1-0!
THE Cumber threatened twice afterwards, but his two long-range attempts in the 9th and 21st minutes went wide, with the latter ending up wide of Bowman’s post. “Union” had another good moment in the 26th minute, but his shot Pissarro it was weak.
In the 33rd minute, Pizarro found him with a beautiful cross Mohammadi, he entered the area and shot from a diagonal position, with Bowman walking away. In the 40′, after the execution of the corner, the ball reached the Cumberwho immediately took the shot on the move, with the ball going wide.
In the 45’+1′, the Swiss evaded his personal opponent and shot from outside the area, but his shot ended up narrowly wide of the post. That was the last good moment in the first half, with both teams going into the break with 1-0 in favor of OFI.
The first good moment for the second half once again belonged to OFI. In the 49th minute, Larsson made a nice cross from the right. The Felipe headed in from close range, with Stankovic making an impressive save.
In the following minutes, OFI closed the spaces beautifully, with AEK not able to create and not manage to reach any final effort for more than half an hour of play. The first final for “Union” in the second half came in the 80th minute, with his shot Pineda who countered, while a minute later, Bowman impressively saved his free-kick Gacinovic.
The Cretans not only withstood the pressure of the Almeida players, but also managed to find a second goal. In 83′, Abada found him with a wonderful vertical pass in the area Dicko, he also passed Stankovic and slotted into an empty net for 2-0!
AEK then failed to find a goal to put them back in the game, with 2-0 being the final score. She was also first defeat of “Union” in this year’s championship.
MVP: His presence is very good Midsummer in the middle line area. He ran, pressed, cut and avoided unnecessary mistakes. In addition, OFI’s first goal starts from his own feet, with the vertical pass he makes to Bakics.
The whistle: His refereeing is good Diamantopoulou. He didn’t have a difficult phase to manage and went unnoticed.
Team compositions:
OFI (Valdas Dabrauskas): Bowman, Larsson, Thorarinson, Vouros, Karo, Pasalidis (55′ Lambropoulos), Meyado, Gagegos (75′ Abada), Glaser, Bakics, Felipe (67′ Diko).
AEK (Matias Almeida): Stankovic, Mohammadi, Cullens, Mitoglou, Rota, Simanski, Galanopoulos (67′ Pineda), Pizarro (61′ Gacinovic), Eliasson (67′ Zini), Zuber (61′ Ponce), Van Weert (61′ Araujo).
Source: Sport Fm
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.
