Panathinaikos suffered a 2-1 defeat to AEK in Nea Filadelfeia, where the hosts were crowned Greek champions. The Greens delivered a strong performance and took the lead, but were unable to preserve their advantage in the Matchday 4 playoff clash of the Stoiximan Super League.
Panathinaikos threatened for the first time in the 6th minute when, following a cross from Kyriakopoulos, Pantelidis received the ball and fired at Strakosha’s near post, but the AEK goalkeeper made the save. The Greens created another good opportunity in the first half in the 38th minute with a powerful 20-meter strike by Kontouris, but once again Strakosha came to AEK’s rescue. The home side had their own dangerous moment in the 7th minute when Koita attempted a low shot, which Lafont dealt with effectively.
In the second half, Panathinaikos took complete control of the match and dictated the tempo. The Greens looked extremely dangerous on the counterattack, and in one such move in the 63rd minute Pantelidis made a brilliant run down the left flank. The ball reached Cerin, whose superb curling effort struck the junction of the post and crossbar. Tetteh reacted quickest to the rebound and headed home beautifully to put the Clover ahead, making it 0-1.
AEK equalized in the 72nd minute through Zini, who also hit the post in the 75th minute. Zaroury came close in the 83rd minute with a dangerous long-range diagonal shot. Instead of Panathinaikos doubling their lead, AEK completed the comeback as, in the third minute of additional time (90+3’), João Mário found himself in a scoring position inside the box and finished from close range to make it 2-1.
AEK: Strakosha, Rota, Moukoudi, Relvas, Pilios, Pereyra (66’ Zini), Marin (85’ Mantalos), Pineda, Koita (85’ João Mário), Jović (90+5’ Ljubičić), Varga.
Panathinaikos: Lafont, Calabria, Touba, Palmer-Brown, Kyriakopoulos, Kontouris (73’ Siopis), Cerin, Andino (79’ Jagousic), Pantelidis (73’ Zaroury), Taborda (84’ Djuricic), Tetteh (84’ Pantovic).
