SL2 23/24: Athens Kallithea 2-1 Ilioupoli

Emotions ran high at El Paso on Monday afternoon, as AKFC defiantly overcame an offside equalizer and a red card to defeat second-place Ilioupoli, 2-1, keeping their place at the top of the league.

After a nervy start, Javier Matilla put AKFC ahead in the 36th minute, converting from the penalty spot after Andreas Vasilogiannis was taken down in the box.

Frustratingly, the visitors would level from a corner kick just four minutes later while replays showed the play to be offside, but there was no recourse and the two sides were level at the break.

When Konstantinos Bouloulis was sent off with a second yellow card in the 47th minute, the prospect of AKFC recapturing the lead looked bleak. But the adversity seemed to galvanize the team, as they immediately took charge of the match, and substitute Thierry Moutinho would fire AKFC back in front in the 60th minute with a brilliant solo goal, weaving through two defenders before beating the ‘keeper at the near post.

With a half-hour remaining, AKFC closed out the result with a combination of grit and savvy, taking all three points and extending their unbeaten run to eight matches.

Athens Kallithea (4-3-3): Kotsaris, Bouloulis, Mejías, Tsivelekidis, Jevremović (75’ Marotta), Matilla, Silva (46’ Moustakopoulos), Demethryus (50’ Manthatis), Kynigopoulos (46’ Moutinho), Loukinas, Vasilogiannis (89’ Tsintonis)