Not Gordon Banks… Gordon Barkas!!!

This Sunday we took on Panathinaikos in a difficult away match after our midweek cup game got postponed due to inclement weather. This is a big game for us, we not only needed the three points but we needed to make a strong statement to our rivals.

We started out pretty well and in just the 3rd minute we had our first chance of the game after Mantalo shot wide after picking off a lazy back pass. Other then this early attempt from our captain nothing really else happened in the first half hour of the game. In the 30th minute Berg had an attempt which bounced before Barkas saved comfortably. Just a minute after that Vlachodimos made a save on an awkwardly defended ball that whipped in by Galo.

In 37th minute Barkas came up with a big save coming strong off his line, keeping the game deadlocked after Leto was through on goal and tried to lob our young number one. In the 40th minute the ball almost snuck it’s way in after Lambropoulo cut the ball back after a Mantalo free kick from the left. From the resulting corner, Mantalo had his shot well blocked by the Panathinaikos defense. 0-0 at the break.

In the 54th minute Papito had his shot sail harmlessly wide after a nice curled cross from the left. Two minutes after that, Barkas made a wonderful save that could be considered save of the season. Didac would slip after a low cross came in leaving Villafanez one on one with Barkas seeing the whites in his eyes and somehow Barkas kept the Argentinian out with a strong hand.

In the 64th minute after a defensive error, Barkas would come out of his area and with a sliding effort beat Leto to the ball, a dangerous moment for AEK. Finally in the 74th minute Barkas would make yet another save, this time with a little more ease. The match would end 0-0, but if it wasn’t for Barkas we wouldn’t even have gotten this one point. Barkas the MVP of the derby and came up huge when we needed him the most. We needed the three points, at times we played pretty good, but on the other hand we could have lost this match.

Nonetheless, this point brings us back into 5th place four points behind our Athenian rivals. Our next match is away on Wednesday to Panatolikos. We can’t afford any more slip ups, a tie in a derby like this isn’t the end of the world. Step by step, day by day progress will come we just have to be patient.