AEK leaves it late against Kerkyra

By: Peter Katsiris | January 23rd, 2009

The Greek Cup has been a tricky assignment for AEK Athens in recent years, and a meeting with Beta Ethniki outfit Kerkyra in Athens on Thursday was another chapter in AEK’s Cup struggles. While previous campaigns were marred by early exits against lower opposition, or derby defeats against rivals Olympiacos, AEK assured their Cup run would last until at least the quarterfinals after Dusan Bajevic’s side edged Kerkyra with a 1-0 win at the OAKA Spyros Louis Stadium.

Starting 2009 on an undefeated streak featuring a draw with stadium rivals Panathinaikos, and Thessaloniki duo PAOK and Iraklis, AEK was not prepared to part with their winning record to start the new calendar year.

The ‘Kitrinomavri’ started brightly as they secured the first decent look at goal on seven minutes. Edinho released an effort towards Loukas Apostolidis’ goal, but the Brazilian was denied by the Greek shot stopper who conceded a corner.

Three minutes later AEK attacked again. Algerian striker Rafik Djebbour went on a racy run before firing a shot from just outside the box, but once again Apostolidis was up to the task again but this time managed to hold to make a save.

It wasn’t until the twenty-second minute that Kerkyra finally tested the AEK backline, but AEK ‘keeper Jurgen Macho was not troubled by Ibrahim Souare’s effort.

AEK returned to its offensive dominance ten minutes later, with Edinho forcing the best out of Apostolidis to assure the match stayed level. The Brazilian continued the trend of being his side’s only workable option as he continued to cause Kerkyra’s defense headaches.

Just before stoppage time, it appeared AEK sealed a golden chance to take the lead as Edinho was eventually brought down inside the Kerkyra box to win the ‘Enosi’ a trip to the penalty spot. Stepping up to take the spot kick after winning prestigious trip to the spot for his club, Edinho was set to complete the play with the game’s first goal but he smashed his effort off the upright.

Deflated by their inability to grab a goal, AEK entered the half with questions to answer. The hosts had continuously created chances through their Brazilian ace Edinho, but while the scoreboard should’ve been extremely in favour of AEK, Kerkyra remained in the match thanks to a 0-0 score line.

Shuffling his hand ahead of the restart, Bajevic grew furious with his side after his players were unable to transfer their dominance into the early stages of the second frame.

Protests for a penalty on fifty-eight minutes was all AEK had to show for through the first twenty minutes of the second half. While the play should have resulted in a second trip to the spot for AEK, referee Christoforos Zografos shrugged off appeals for a penalty.

AEK’s offense came back to life on seventy-eight minutes as Edinho yet again tested Apostolidis, this time with an aerial effort forcing the 28-year-old into a save before Sotiris Kyrgiakos failed to take advantage of the loose ball.

Pantelis Kafes pounced on an error made by Kerkyra’s sloppy defenders one minute later, but while the Greek international had the reputation of being AEK’s clutch scorer – along with Edinho – but on this occasion Kafes was denied by the crossbar.

Edinho followed suit shortly after, as the Brazilian also found the woodwork after Djebbour played a square ball to his striking partner.

Looking to pounce on their opponents misfortunes in front of goal, Kerkyra nearly made a rare venture into AEK’s attacking third memorable on eighty-eight minutes. Souare turned his defender to create some space to allow the Guinean to attempt a volleyed effort towards Macho. While the shot was hit with plenty of conviction, the Austrian international was able to get behind the blistering strike.

A quick transition by the ‘Dikefale’ was led by Michalis Pavlis as the U-19 Greece international found teammate Ignacio Scocco with a pass clicing the Kerkyra defense. Opting to break towards the goal, Scocco trickily escaped his markers before firing a hard shot past Apostolidis.

Seizing the lead just before the beginning of stoppage, it was quite the tally for AEK after a game full of let downs not telling the truth for the Athenian giants.

Not enough time to mount a comeback, Kerkyra would be allowed to hold their heads high when the final whistle came a few mintues after AEK’s crippling breakthrough. The Beta Ethniki side gave a valiant effort at OAKA, but a break down at the eleventh hour saw the challengers collapse just before the death.

AEK’s focus returns to Super League action, where the race for the playoffs is the best AEK can do at this point. Hosting fellow playoff contenders Panionios at OAKA, AEK will be confident to triumph yet again but will be wary of their visitors who will be keen to start fresh after a 2-0 loss to OFI Crete last weekend.

For Kerkyra, their hopes of a long run in the Greek Cup are over for now; however, it does allow the islanders to improve on their current fifth place rank in Greece’s second tier in a bid to return to the top flight next term.

AEK Athens FC 1-0 Kerkyra FC
Scocco 89′

Yellow Cards:
AEK Athens FC – Geraldo Alves 14′, Basinas 22′.
Kerkyra FC – Tsemberidis 69′.

AEK Athens FC (Dusan Bajevic): Macho, Pliatsikas, Juanfran, Majstorovic (46′ Kyrgiakos), Geraldo Alves, Basinas (75′ Pavlis), Kafes, Manduca, Zorbas (52′ Scocco), Edinho, Djebbour.

Kerkyra FC (Nikos Pantelis): Apostolidis, Boutzikos (62′ Reuperne), Moustogiannis (56′ Gustavo), Athanasiadis, (67′ Israel Silva), Sentementes, Tsemberidis, Pelagias, Vitouladitis, Giannitsanakis, Makridimitris, Souare.

Referee: Christoforos Zografos

Venue: OAKA Spyro Louis Stadium, Athens, Greece.