He sweated, but Athens Kallithea eliminated Diagoras on penalties

The… it took Rhodes, but Athens Kallithea qualified for the “16” of the Betsson Greek Cup!

Massimo Donati’s team had the upper hand with possession of the ball, but failed to “unlock” his very properly organized defense Diagoraswas tied 0-0 in normal duration and extension, while the process of penalty kick (4-3) to ensure its presence in the next phase of the competition.

The match:



Athens Kallithea had the initiative of the movements from the first minutes of the match, but without managing to create a big phase to open the score. In the 16th minute and after Valbuena’s collaboration with Vasiligianni, Ediage failed to send the ball into the goal. In the 39th Sapundzis he squared Gelio after Leumis’ vertical pass, but Diagoras’ goal for the lead was disallowed for offside. In the last phase of the first half, a return of his Valbuena after his crosses Vasilogianniwent high out.

The visitors continued to be superior, but having… loose possession of the ball. In the 52nd minute, Tsilingiris blocked a header Lucina from an advantageous position, while in the 61st Soiree he stepped into the home team’s box, but missed. As time went by, the pressure of Athens Kallithea increased, with Tsilingiris saving his team by repelling an Uldrikis finish with great difficulty, while he also had an answer to Gianni’s long shot, at 90’+3′.

The match went into half-hour extra time, with the Kallithea team missing a great opportunity in the 100th minute, when after Demetrius’ corner kick and Diagoras’ inaction in the defense, Ediage shot and Uldrikis failed to score from close range with a heel. In first-half stoppage time, the hosts threatened with Papadopoulos’ cross going just wide of Gelio’s crossbar, Cilingiris stop him Gianni at 118′ and thus the qualification was decided in the penalty shootout.

There, Tsilingiris impressively saved Athens Kallithea’s first penalty from Matias, Dimitriou, Manolakis scored for the hosts, but Gelios saved Manias’s penalty, before Uldrikis leveled the score at 2-2. Tsiantoulas and Gianni made it 3-3, o Laughter rejected the attempt of Papadopoulos and Mercati hit the spot, for 4-3 and the qualification of Athens Kallithea!

Diagoras (Thomas Grafas): Tsilingiris, Katsoulidis (53′ Nikolis), Dimitriou, Stamatoullas, Manolakis, Garoufalias (58′ Tsiantoulas), Bregou (98′ Dimopoulos), Sapountzis (73′ Aguardo), Kokkinis, Ato (58′ Papadopoulos), Loumis (73′ Manias) )

Athens Kallithea (Massimo Donati): Gelios, Romao, Soiri (68′ Giani), Matijevic, Tsivelekidis (81′ Hanousek), Kainourgios, Matija, N’Diage, Vasilogiannis (81′ Nikolics), Valbuena (68′ Uldrikis), Loukinas (88′ Demetrius).