Greek Cup: Panetolikos 3-2 Athens Kallithea

Arriving in the Round of 16 of the Greek Cup for the consecutive season, AKFC were away to Super League League 1 side Panetolikos on Tuesday night and jumped out to a 0-2 lead in a brilliant performance, but the hosts would pull one back from a corner and then struck twice in the two final minutes to take a 3-2 advantage from the first leg. AKFC will look to respond in the second leg in Athens on 17 January.

Despite losing late, it nevertheless felt like a special night in which AKFC demonstrated their top flight credentials. AKFC were firmly in control in the first half, and they would open the scoring in the 21st minute. From a free-kick on the right side, Javier Matilla feigned a cross but chose to square the ball to the top of the box for Georgios Moustakopoulos who confidently stepped into it and unleashed a vicious first-time shot into the top right corner.

AKFC went close to a second goal in the 40th minute, as Panagiotis Kynigopoulos ran onto a long ball from Demethryus on the counter, but his attempt to chip the ‘keeper dropped just over the bar, and the half-time whistle would blow with the score at 0-1.

Panetolikos came out of the break with two attacking substitutions, brining on Frederico Duerte and Nikos Karelis, but AKFC would double their lead just five minutes into the second half. In a moment of individual mastery, captain Javier Matilla latched onto the ball from a Moustakopoulos corner, weaved through two defenders, and sent a beautiful curling shot past the ‘keeper and into the side netting.

AKFC nearly broke the game wide open a few minutes later, but Kynigopoulos could not manage to hit the target on back-to-back opportunities in the 54th and 55th minutes, as both chances came from relentless high pressing led by Moustakopoulos and Damián Silva.

Panetolikos were let off the hook, and they would claw back into the match when Charalampos Mavrias finished from a corner kick in the 62nd minute. They say 2-0 is most dangerous lead in football for a reason, and once Panetolikos found a lifeline, it was set for a tense finish. In the end, the hosts would complete their comeback with Pedro Silva Torrejón equalizing in the 88th minute before Karelis hit the winner in stoppage time, and AKFC would have to turn their attention to the second leg, still in with a shot at the quarter-finals, which would equal the furthest cup run in the club’s history.

Athens Kallithea (4-3-3): Vosniadis, Weiss, Mejías, Vlachos, Manthatis (86’ Romao), Matilla (62’ Tsintonis), Silva (76’ Bouloulis), Moustakopoulos, Vasilogiannis (76’ Loukinas), Kynigopoulos, Demethryus (86’ Pozatzidis)