Aris prevails against Atromitos

By: Peter Katsiris | November 13th, 2008

Aris avoided any blushes on Wednesday with a 2-1 win over Atromitos at Peristeri to progress to the next round of the Greek Cup. A superior defensive effort in the dying minutes of the match allowed ‘O Theos tou Polemou’ to avoid an Atromitos comeback, and join twelve other Greek Super League sides in the next round.

Both sides shared the opening exchanges of scoring opportunities, but like many matches on Wednesday, goals eluded the strikers. Atromitos continued to force Michalis Sifakis into making many spectacular saves, but it was Aris who finally broke the deadlock after the restart.

After an illegal challenge in the box, Aris grabbed the lead when Toni Calvo converted the ensuing penalty to give Aris a 1-0 lead just before the hour mark. Their lead was extended ten minutes before time, as Javito fired a shot hard enough to elude a diving effort from Apostolos Androutsos.

With Aris surely in a comfortable positiong, Atromitos strived to make it an uneasy finish to the match as Michalis Kripintiris scored just before stoppage time to set up a tense finale. However, Aris was unfazed by Atromitos late tally, as Aris’ defensive efforts made sure the goal was nothing but consolation for a side currently leading the Beta Ethniki whislt inching towards promotion back to the Super League.

Atromitos 1-2 Aris
Kripintiris 89′ – Toni Calvo (pen.) 56′, Javito 80′

Atromitos (Vassilis Vouzas): Androutsos, Masara, Kripintiris, Apostolopoulos, Marinos, Skordas, Melissas, Rovas, Karalis, Tatos, Nikolopoulos.

Aris (Enrique Hernandez): Sifakis, Neto, Ronaldo, Lebo, Karambelas, Garcia, Vitolo, Regueiro, Toni Calvo, Koke, Wlodarczyk.