A must win, Job done

Just this Saturday we took on Levadiako at the OAKA in yet another must win match after a disappointing outing last match against Kerkyra where we drew 1-1. Our captain Petro Mantalo did not feature today.

Not only him however, the likes of Vargas, Bakasetas and a few others are still out injured. Our squad is filled with injuries unfortunately. Some key players are missing, leaving our bench pretty thin.
After a pretty slow first 15 minutes things would eventually pick up. Pekart who got the start today, was taken out by the goalkeeper after he was put smartly put through one on one with the Levadiako number one. Namasco was very rightly shown a red card leaving Levadiako with 10 men for 70 plus minutes. Mosxonas our former goalkeeper came on as a sub as result of the dismissal.
It was then a matter of when we would break the deadlock. In the 28th minute Simoes opened the scoring with a clever finish after a low cross by Papito from the left. The score line would remain 1-0 at the half. In the second half we were looking to apply more pressure and get a couple more goals to calmly kill the game. In the 50th minute Pekart made it 2-0 after he brought down the ball nicely in the area and with a crispy volley beat Mosxona.
Things would get better for Enosi. In the 67th minute Galanopoulo who has really impressed me made it 3-0 after his effort deflected into the back of the net. The first goal in AEK colors for this very promising young midfielder. A well deserved goal for the youngster however. The players reacted with many friendly smacks and hugs for Galanopoulo who had a smile on his face.
The game was done and dusted at 3-0, good job by the boys giving nothing cheap away. We added another one in the 80th minute through a reactive header by Papito after Almedia’s effort struck the post. Late on, in stoppage time Barkas made two smart saves preserving his clean sheet.
The game would end 4-0, three very important points for AEK. With this win we move up to second place with matches still to be played tomorrow and Monday however. This was a solid performance from Enosi, after the red card we rightfully dominated the game and remained defensively sound. Hopefully we can keep this up and finish strong before the Christmas break.
Up next we take on Lamia away on Wednesday in the final match of the cup group stage. Let’s put another solid performance together, leave no doubts and qualify for the next round.