It was one of those nights when a team prevails in both the main points and the details of a match but misses the most important thing in a game: to score. This was what happened in that derby of the 3rd of November of 2018, in the Olympic Stadium, between Panathinaikos and ΑΕΚ. The “Shamrock” played overridingly better than its opponent, as everyone admitted (including Marinos Ouzounidis, AEK’s head coach, himself). The players of George Donis followed the tactical plan of their trainer and limited last year’s champions in playing the role of a … stooge.
From the very first seconds (and the first lost chance) Panathinaikos made clear to AΕΚ that they were not going to grant them the game. The “Greens” blocked all the power their rival had, finding ways to create serious problems to the defensive line of ΑΕΚ. The only problem for Panathinaikos was its failure to finalize its efforts. If important chances weren’t lost by Macheda in the first half and by Bouzoukis and Chatzitheodoridis in the second one, would have offered Panathinaikos an important victory. ΑΕΚ didn’t threaten much, feeling hemmed in the game of the “Greens”.
Although the match wasn’t victorious for the Shamrock, at the end, the players from both teams created a meaningful whole together with the 30.000 fans present in the bleachers, who were booming the Olympic Stadium. It was a mutual recognition of the big effort Panathinaikos is doing during this peculiar season, by both players and fans,.
PANATHINAIKOS: Dioudis, Johansson, Coulibaly, Pouggouras, Mavrommatis, Insua, Kourbelis, Donis (63′ Kace), Bouzoukis (84′ Mounier), Chatzigiovannis (62′ Chatzitheodoridis), Macheda.
ΑΕΚ: Barkas, Bakakis, Ikonomou, Cingrinsky, Hult, Galanopoulos (81′ Alef), Simoes, Mantalos, Livaja, Boie (72′ Gallo), Ponce (78′ Klonaridis).
