After a tense game, AEK and Olympiacos were tied 1-1 at Allwyn Arena, a result that suited the Piraeus side. Combined with a 2-2 draw in Panathinaikos v PAOK, Medilibar’s side qualified for the Champions League qualifiers.
The match…
Olympiacos entered the game with the desire to have possession of the ball and move it all over the field, while pressing high up the pitch, trying to find an opening in AEK’s defense. Pineda was closely marked and showed passion in his actions, but also made mistakes, keeping the ball a lot.
AEK did not show a clear head when they had the ball in their defence and almost conceded a goal on 11 minutes. After some red and white pressure and a mistake by Pilios, El Kaabi took a powerful left-footed shot from just inside Brignoli’s wide area and forced the Italian goalkeeper to drop into his right corner and clear!
AEK took a long time to settle into their game and made significant mistakes in defence, unlike Olympiacos who seemed to attack more rationally. On 18 minutes, Zini pressed Tzolakis and stole the ball from him, but the Union forward failed to get past him, with the Reds’ goalkeeper blocking the ball.
In the next minute, Olympiacos missed another huge chance to open the scoring. From another mistake in the home side’s build-up, this time by Pineda, El Kaabi got across to Brignoli, but was too late and then shot from a tight angle, with Brignoli saving a corner.
Sipioni, Dani García, Cicinho and Pontese – with help from Rodinay – looked in control of the game, while Mukudi made mistakes in defence. AEK seemed to “suffer” in the midfield and did not pass the ball well in attack, with Varga’s absence showing in the reception of the ball, from the fillers of Brignoli and the yellow and black players. The new mistake made by AEK, just before the first half (41′) was paid for! From a mistake by Pineda, Pontaine found Rodinay, the Brazilian entered the opposition area and beat Brignoli with a low diagonal shot to make it 0-1.
Soon after the restart Marco Nikolic made his first substitution. Varga replaced Pereira and AEK were left with three strikers. The Hungarian striker had his first good moment on 53 minutes, his header sending the ball out of play. Medilibar also made changes, with Zelson and Esse coming in for Podense and García.
The game got tougher after that, with AEK trying to be dangerous in the opposition’s box, with Koita and Zini stepping up. On 63 minutes, Zini and Jovic made a terrific one-two outside the Olympiacos big area and before the Angolan could execute, Pirola made a save.
Nicolić made two new changes, with Joao Mario coming on for Pineda and Coutesa coming on for Zini. AEK tried to move the ball more quickly and get out on the attack. In 74′ came the “explosion” and the score was 1-1! Koita took a left-footed shot from outside the area, Tzolakis couldn’t clear and the ball ended up in the net.
The game was on fire, with Olympiacos looking for a winning goal and AEK finding gaps in the opposing defense.Medilobar reshuffled his team, bringing in Biancon instead of Costinha and Andre Luiz instead of Cipioni,
Olympiacos saw Andre Luiz’s one-timer on 86′ send the ball just wide of the post while AEK missed a unique chance to win the game on 88′. Pilios makes a tremendous play and gives a ready goal to Joao Mario, he shoots in first time but Tzolakis makes a great save to keep the score 1-1.
