Great Attacking Football – Όσα πρέπει να ξέρετε για την ΑΕΚ στα Αγγλικά!

Last Saturday we took on Veria in an away fixture for our second match of the season. The team looked very energetic and lively yet again.

Papito Rodriguez stood out again for me, he caused the Veria defense a numerous amount of problems in the first half. Simoes and our Sweedish bulldog started together in the middle of the park, no Lambropoulo in the starting 11 this time. Our defense was unchanged as well, of course with Anesti getting the start under the sticks.

Like in our previous match we started out very strong and on the front foot. Our first clear cut chance came in the 10th minute when our captain Petros Mandalos had his shot heroically blocked preventing yet another early lead. In the 14th minute Mandalo would go through on goal one on one with the goalkeeper and somehow hit the post from close range. In the 19th minute a Bakaseta knuckling free kick from pretty far out wrong footed the goalkeeper and found it’s way to the back of the net opening the scoring for Enosi. The pressure would continue and in the 25th minute Hugo Almedia had his header wonderfully saved by the Veria number 1, who had a pretty good game baring the free kick situation. We almost conceded two minutes after that after a set piece, possibly after some bad commanding of his box by Anesti, nonetheless SImoes would eventually clear off the line.

In the 38th minute Hugo Alemida came off with an injury, replaced by Ronald Vargas. Hopefully Hugo can get fit in two weeks before our big trip to the Kareskaki. In the 42nd minute Bakaseta almost got his brace if it wasn’t for another great save by the goalkeeper who tipped the ball on to the post. We played a really good attacking first half, where we created a lot and played some really nice stuff. Papito was all the money in the first half, taking on players and making things happen left and right. I really like the boy.

In the second half we were looking for the second goal to kill the game. The amount of chances that were created in the second half decreased as understandably the game slowed down after such a rapid tempo in the first 45 minutes. In the 70th minute the Veria goalkeeper made yet another quality save again from a Bakaseta effort. Then just 8 minutes after that Platellas who came on as a sub skied over an effort after a very unselfish cutback by Bakaseta who passed up a chance to complete his brace. Finally in the 87th minute Veria’s resistance broke and with a second attempt after an initial save by the goalkeeper Vargas would make it 2-0 after a nice back heel by Bakaseta who had a strong game. With Vargas netting AEK’s second goal the game was done and dusted another 3 points for the boys.

This was another strong performance from the boys. Although the second goal took a little while to come we created a lot of chances and were once again sound defensively. Our next match is on Monday at 1:30 at the OAKA as we take on Iraklis. This is a big game because the next match after that we take on Olympiaco at the Kareskaki, so it’s vital that we win this game so we can go into the derby perfect with 9 points.

One sad note that I have to mention is that Mandalo picked up an injury in training and will be forced out of action for a little while. Someone has to step up. We need someone to play that number 10 role with smarts, and fill in for the captain because he is what makes our team click on his good days. Get well soon captain!

George Angelidis, New York