Greece Football

AEK strikes at the death to salvage a draw against Panathinaikos

A late VAR-awarded penalty has helped AEK rescue a result against Panathinaikos, allowing PAOK to go level on points with the Greens atop the ladder.

Enosi played out a 2-2 draw with the “Trifylli” at “Agia Sophia” Stadium on Monday morning (AEDT) in the Greek Super League’s 18th round, thanks to a crucial brace from star forward Levi Garcia.

Garcia gave the hosts the lead 24 minutes in when he latched onto an over-the-top through ball and went one-on-one with goalkeeper Yuri Lodygin, the striker depositing the ball into the net.

The Greens equalised soon after through centre half Tin Jedvaj, who headed in a cross from left back Juankar following a free kick (31′).

Panathinaikos then claimed the lead from another free kick, this time seeing Giannis Kotsiras head the ball across for centre back Willian Arao to finish off (66′).

AEK pushed hard to find a second and their efforts finally paid off in injury time when VAR awarded them a penalty for a handball on midfielder Zeca, and Garcia stepped up again for his club as he smashed the ball into the top right corner (90+6′).

PAOK was the biggest beneficiary of the draw as they managed to go back into first place (on goal difference) through their 4-0 drubbing of Giannina at “Toumba” Stadium.

The Thessaloniki giants went into the break 1-0 ahead, courtesy of a 29th minute goal from left back Baba Rahman, before taking the game away from the Epirutans in the second period.

Midfielder Soualiho Meite doubled their lead (49′) and young striker Stefanos Tzimas found their third with a header just four minutes later.

The final nail in the coffin came in the 66th minute when Giannina midfielder Daan Rienstra accidentally deflected the ball into his own net from an attempted clearance.

Olympiacos avoided a major upset as they escaped from Kifisia with a 2-3 victory.

The Piraeus outfit cruised to a two-goal advantage, thanks to winger Giorgos Masouras’ finish (11′) and striker Fran Navarro’s penalty (37′), when centre half Panagiotis Retsos found himself sent off on the verge of half time for a second yellow (45′).

Kifisia almost immediately pounced as they closed the opening period with a long-range effort from defender Ivan Milicevic (45+2′) and they later drew level with striker Ognjen Ozegovic converting his spot-kick (64′).

The “red-whites” reclaimed the lead in the 85th minute through substitute striker Youssef El Arabi and this time managed to hold onto it, with the match finishing with 10 vs 10 after Kifisia winger Mateus Santos earned himself a second yellow.

Aris sealed a 0-4 away triumph against Panetolikos to further strengthen their position in the top six.

The “yellow-blacks” went ahead through midfielder Neven Djurasek’s long shot (19′) before winger Shapi Suleymanov made it two (78′).

Forward Kike Saveiro gave Aris their third in the 90th minute and striker Alvaro Zamora came up with a goal right at the death (90+6′) to cap off a fantastic outing for the visitors.

Asteras Tripolis resigned Volos to their fourth straight loss after downing them 1-0 at home, with the winning goal coming from striker Juan Bautista Miritello’s header in the 90+1st minute.

Panserraikos earned an important 0-2 away victory over Lamia on Sunday morning to snap an eight-game winless run in the league.

The Serres club opened the scoring in the 14th minute, thanks to a strike from winger Amr Warda, and substitute midfielder Kosta Aleksic wrapped up the match with a late goal (85′).

Atromitos bagged an injury time equaliser to secure a 1-1 home draw with OFI.

The Cretans went ahead through centre half Vasilis Lampropoulous after VAR overturned an originally call of offside.

OFI thought it would be enough to win the points when winger Diego Valencia popped up with a headed goal in the 90+8th minute that took a slight deflection off goalkeeper Noam Baumann on its way into the net.

Greek Super League Ladder

1-PAOK: 41

2-Panathinaikos: 41

3-AEK: 39

4-Olympiacos: 35

5-Aris: 30

6-Asteras Tripolis: 26

7-Atromitos: 23

8-Lamia: 21

9-Panserraikos: 18

10-OFI: 17

11-Panetolikos: 14

12-Volos: 14

13-PAS Giannina: 12

14-Kifisia: 12