Panathinaikos let victory slip through our hands against AEL. Despite falling behind early, the Greens completed a full comeback, had the chance to seal all three points, but eventually left the AEL FC Arena with a 2–2 draw.
Davide Calabria scored his first league goal for the Shamrock, following his strike against Sturm Graz, Tasos Bakasetas found the net for a second consecutive match after his winning goal against Kifissia last Wednesday in the Cup, and Filip Djuricic reached 100 appearances wearing the green shirt. However, Panathinaikos return to Athens with just one point and now turn their focus to the upcoming European clash against Viktoria Plzen on Thursday (11/12).
Rafa Benitez’s team took control of the match from the opening minutes, enjoying overwhelming possession, but struggled to find space and break down AEL’s defense. Even so, the Greens created goal-scoring opportunities in the 12th minute with Tete, the 19th with Touba, and the 29th with Swiderski.
Against the run of play, without having faced any real danger, Panathinaikos fell behind. In the 37th minute, AEL pressed high, won the ball, and launched a quick counterattack. Garate fired a powerful diagonal shot inside the box, Kotsaris saved, but Dias reacted first to score from the rebound and put the hosts ahead.
Panathinaikos responded immediately and equalized in the 43rd minute after an excellent combination between the two full-backs. Mladenovic delivered a cross from the left and Calabria, making a striker’s run, headed superbly into the net for 1–1.
The second half began with AEL threatening in the 51st minute when Hatzistravos went one-on-one with Kotsaris but placed his shot wide. In the 66th minute, Panathinaikos created their first clear chance of the half, with Tete beating Deligiannidis and shooting from a tight angle, but Anagnostopoulos saved with a double effort.
In the 68th minute, following a long ball from Palmer-Brown, Zaroury delicately chipped the ball inside the box and Ferrigra brought down the Moroccan midfielder. VAR official Koubarakis called referee Evangelou for an on-field review, after which a clear penalty was awarded. In the 74th minute, Bakasetas stepped up and converted powerfully to make it 1–2.
The Greens controlled the match without being threatened and missed a huge chance to secure the win in the 88th minute when Tete found himself one-on-one with Anagnostopoulos, who made a crucial save.
Instead of 1–3, the match ended 2–2 as Evangelou awarded a penalty to AEL in stoppage time—after VAR intervention and an on-field review—following a duel between Passas and Mladenovic. In the 99th minute, Passas converted from the spot to seal the final score.
AEL: Anagnostopoulos, Iliadis (63’ Kovacevic), Tsakla, Ferrigra, Apostolakis (63’ Papageorgiou), Deligiannidis, Andrada (75’ Atanasof), Staikos, Perez (75’ Sourlis), Hatzistravos (80’ Passas), Garate.
Panathinaikos: Kotsaris, Calabria, Mladenovic, Touba, Palmer-Brown, Siopis, Tserin, Bakasetas (80’ Djuricic), Zaroury (80’ Dessers), Tete (90+10’ Jedvaj), Swiderski (58’ Pantovic).
