After the latest result at the AEL FC Arena, it is not all doom and gloom for the Queen of the Plains, but onwards and upwards from here after Savvas Pantelidis’ AEL fought hard against this season’s title contenders PAOK in a fierce 1-1 draw.
It is the second consecutive 1-1 draw after last week’s result with Panathinaikos in Athens, where AEL don’t have the best of records against the Greens.
Nonetheless, it was a valuable point earned with a solid away performance. Now, AEL earned yet another valuable point against a PAOK side where fatigue was also their enemy, but the visitors can count themselves lucky to escape Larissa with a result.
Razvan Lucescu’s men opened the scoring early in the first half through rising starlet Dimitris Chatsidis, his first in the Super League. It was a goal that could have been prevented, but heads didn’t drop for AEL. Knowing the current position they are in the standings, they kept their faith and strived for chances.
The second half came along with the ‘what ifs’. It was the spirited performance of Pantelidis’s men that once again has everyone talking. Midway through the second period, Pantelidis made his first change with former Chelsea talent Gael Kakuta coming on for Pione Sisto in the 59th minute. Just three minute later, the Congolese forward made his first contribution by taking a free-kick from 30 yards, delivering into the box for top-scorer Angelo Sagal to control and fire past Antonis Tsiftsis with a delightful volley for 1-1.
From this point onwards, Lucescu started to feel the change of the wind. Considering their European obligations and their injury list – Giannis Konstantelias, Luka Ivanusec, Kiril Despodov, Dimitris Pelkas and Soualiho Meite were all sidelined – fatigue started to plague his side in the second half.
However, a spirited AEL team knew this was something to take advantage of and go one further. AEL’s attack hasn’t been their forte this season, but they have seen considerable improvement along with a stable defence since the turn of the year. PAOK had trouble breaking down AEL’s resolute backline and resorted to long balls and crosses with lethargic finishing.
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The tables turned and AEL started to pounce, and with an ageing Kakuta on his debut showing glimpses of his talent, he made quite the impression, cutting up the PAOK defence with his eye for passing and technical ability. His big opportunity came just as five minutes were added in stoppage time. A mistake from a wandering Tsiftsis saw Kakuta pounce onto the ball, but the 34-year-old contrived to miss the open goal. It was a shot taken with his unnatural right-foot, but had he kept his composure, the outcome would surely have been different.
Just minutes after, nearing the end of full time, AEL eventually found the back of the net to make it 2-1 through an own goal from Jonjoe Kenny, only for the wild celebrations to be cut short after VAR review ruled it out for handball by Savvas Mourgos.
There were no more opportunities and 1-1 was the final score. I was gutted, but we keep moving on. These are the performances AEL fans crave. What Pantelidis has done since taking over last December has been impressive. From finding dark and gloomy faces in the locker room, he has turned them from doubters into believers. Also, the promotion of Thomas Kyparissis from general manager to technical director has also made an impact, with his knowledge of the club during his playing career at AEL obviously instilling a positive effect on the team’s mentality.
The objective of surviving relegation is still yet to be completed as we are nearing the play-offs. The football doesn’t have to pretty nor perfect, but under Pantelidis it is the hungry mentality that drives the AEL players to believe that anything is possible. With two difficult away trips coming up against OFI and AEK, nothing should distract this AEL team, who should not be fazed by anything.
AEL fans don’t give up on the team no matter what, always by their side and the players have obviously seen this on their away trips. A perfect example was the 2-0 away win against Volos where approximately 5,000 fans attended the Panthessaliko, which was an absolute suprise to Lubomir Tupta, with the Slovenian forward saying that he’s never seen anything like it before.
There is belief. There is trust. There is no doubt AEL will continue the fight to stay in the Super League.
Keep The Faith!
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