Playing with ten men for 78 minutes, Panathinaikos showed character, stood firm, and came away unscathed from the derby at Leoforos against AEK. They could even have taken the win, as they created clear scoring chances late in the match. The Greens, coached by Rafael Benítez, drew 0–0 with AEK in the match for Matchday 3 of the Super League Greece playoffs, which turned into a game of special circumstances.
AEK threatened first in the 12th minute through Pereira, but Lafont was alert. Panathinaikos tried to respond in the 15th minute with a shot from Tetei, which was saved by Strakosha. In the 18th minute, the balance of the match completely changed when Hernández was sent off with a straight red card for a foul on Zini outside the box while the latter was through on goal.
The Greens, reduced to ten men, came under pressure in the following minutes but held firm. In the 21st minute, Taborda and the crossbar denied Koita, while immediately after, Mukundi’s effort went wide. In the 30th minute, Mukundi was again denied by Lafont. After the 30-minute mark, Panathinaikos found their footing, controlled the tempo, and even had a great chance to score in the 39th minute, when Kyriakopoulos’ shot was cleared by Strakosha.
The second half began with strong protests from Panathinaikos for a clear foul by Pereira on Tetei inside the box. However, neither the referee awarded the penalty nor did VAR call for a review. Panathinaikos threatened in the 53rd minute with a counterattack, but Tetei’s long-range shot was stopped by Strakosha. AEK had a big chance in the 55th minute with Varga, but Lafont made a crucial save. The Panathinaikos goalkeeper also made an impressive save from João Mário in the 79th minute.
Panathinaikos responded with a huge chance in the 84th minute when Cerin unleashed a powerful long-range strike, forcing Strakosha into a difficult save. In the rebound, Zaroury passed to Calabria, who failed to push the ball into the net from close range.
Panathinaikos had one more massive chance in stoppage time — the final one of the match — when Kyriakopoulos delivered a superb ball to Tasos Bakasetas, who delicately chipped it, but the ball went just inches wide of AEK’s right post.
The captain of the Greens reached 100 appearances in all competitions with the club.
Panathinaikos: Lafont, Palmer-Brown, Ingason, Hernández, Calabria, Kyriakopoulos, Kontouris (69’ Bakasetas), Cerin, Andino (76’ Zaroury), Taborda (69’ Pellistri), Tetteh (88’ Pantović).
AEK: Strakosha, Rota, Moukoundi, Relvas, Pilios (46’ Penrice), Koita, Pineda (73’ Eliasson), Marin, Pereira (58’ João Mário), Zini (58’ Jović), Varga.
