The pioneer AEK maintained its distance of four points from second place!
Another three points in the “bag” for AEK and return to +4 from APOEL! Larnaca beat Karmiotissa 3-1, continuing their winning streak for the fourth game in a row. The goals of the match were scored by Englesou (35'), Duris (44'), Nikolic (46') and Pons (70').
First Half >
AEK showed in the first minutes that they were in the mood to impose themselves, but did not manage to find a good phase. The first chance in the game was for Karmiotissa in the 7th minute. Lukili made the move on the move from a corner and forced Piric into an impressive save.
The guests had difficulty developing properly as Sofroni Augusti's group applied proper pressing and cleaned up any offensive action of the “yellow-greens”. Nevertheless, Oltra's team missed a good chance with Farage in the 13th minute. The speedy winger found himself at the penalty spot, made the play but sent the ball hopelessly wide.
The team of Sofroni Augusti was more threatening than their opponent and in many cases they reached the area but spoiled it in the final pass. However, against the flow of the match, AEK missed a great opportunity with Iakolis in the 28th minute, who sent the ball from inside the area to the left vertical post of Knobloch.
The “yellow-green” picked up the pace and found the goal from a stoppage time. In the 35th minute, the Englishman with a direct free kick sent the ball into the net, at a point where the goalkeeper of Karmiotissa could not react.
Four minutes later, Nikolic missed a great opportunity to double the team's goals. with a shot on the move which ended up just out.
Karmiotissa managed to equalize in the 44th minute with Duris. Initially, Malone took the shot, Piric made an unstable save and the Slovakian forward sent the ball into the net from close range, equalizing for his team.
1-1 was also the score of the first half.
Second Half
After the restart, AEK took the lead again. In the 46th minute, Nikolis countered Malone's chase and the ball ended up in the nets of Knobloch, unable to react.
Karmiotissa missed a good chance in the 55th minute with El Alouhi whose shot went just wide. from Piritch's left crossbar.
The home side predictably dominated possession as they looked for an equaliser, with AEK putting more emphasis on their defensive function.
Lukili tried to score from inside the area in the 66th minute but Piric collected without much difficulty.
Oltra's team also found a third goal and from that point practically sealed the victory. Lopez took the shot, the ball stopped on the post and Pons made it 3-1 with a close header in the 70th minute.
From that point on the pace dropped noticeably. Karmiotissa, obviously affected, could not react while AEK perfectly preserved the score in their favour.
1-3 was also the final score. AEK celebrated a very important victory and opened the gap again from APOEL to +4.
THE IDENTITY OF THE MATCH
Karmiotissa (August ): Knobloch, Chelutska (65' Kaltsas), Malone, Dubia (81' Koulibaly), El Alouhi (81' Youssouf), Tzanakakis (15' Tadi), Mikko, Duris, Gaztanaya, Gravenberg (65' Grandinaru ), Lukili
AEK (Oltra): Piric, Tomovic, Ledes, Farage (74' Casas), Lopes, Milicevic, Rosales, Pons (87' Mikel), Inglezou ( 87' Naum), Iakolis (32' Gromov), Nikolic (74' Sanhurjo)
Scorers: 44' Duris/35' English, 46' Nikolic, 70' Pons< /p>
Yellow cards: 16' Duris, 38' Gaztanaya/27' Farage
Disposals: -/-
Referee: Andreas M. Argyrou
VAR: Roberto Costas
