Slim wins give Asteras and Xanthi aggregate leads

By: Peter Katsiris | February 21st, 2009

All eyes might have been on Piraeus on Wednesday night, but the Greek Cup continued its quarterfinal schedule as Asteras Tripolis and Skoda Xanthi claimed one-goal wins over Panionios and AEK Athens respectively.

Late Winner
In Nea Smyrni, Asteras Tripolis was fortunate to secure a crucial 1-0 as a late strike by Vaggelis Kaounos gave the Arcadian club an edge ahead of the replay next week. Panionios did create chances, however, as the hosts failed to grab the initiative in the tie after Fabian Estoyanoff was denied by the woodwork, twice.

AEK has work to do
In the day’s later fixture it was Skoda Xanthi who clinically overcame AEK Athens with a 2-1 win at the Skoda Xanthi Arena. In what was yet another controversial game due to the questionable display of officiating on hand in Thrace, the hosts were out behind early thanks to a penalty goal from Ismael Blanco.

Not deflated by AEK’s early goal, Xanthi pegged back through Tomas Abraham just before halftime. The Czech midfielder capitalised on a tragic error by the AEK defense to cancel Blanco’s opener.

The home side continued their scoring spree after the interval, thanks to Libor Dosek making his presence felt on sixty-eight minutes. Scoring a hat trick on his debut with the ‘Queen of Thrace’, Dosek gave Xanthi the lead six minutes after replacing Victor Agali. The Czech striker thought he put Xanthi up 3-1 on eighty-give minutes, but the goal was called back with the linesman labelling Dosek in an offside position.

Both replays will take place next Wednesday, with AEK hosting Xanthi at the OAK Spyros Louis Stadium and Asteras Tripolis welcoming Panionios to Tripoli.

Other ties include PAOK and Olympiacos, with the former leading 1-0 after the first leg in Thessaloniki. Panathinaikos and Panserraikos are deadlocked after the first leg, but the Athenians giants are expected to take care of business in Athens. Both of these replays have been scheduled for March 4^th, due to European duties occupying both Panathinaikos and Olympiacos next week.