AEK earned a convincing 4-0 victory over Athens Kallithea in their final friendly fixture ahead of their Super Cup clash against OFI at Pankritio Stadium. The winning team controlled possession and dictated the tempo from the opening minutes of the match.
Vitalis scored his first goal for AEK in the 17th minute to open the scoring following a neat move and finish from a Rota pass. Jovic missed a chance to extend the lead in the 39th minute when his shot from inside the penalty area went wide.
Second Half Hat-Trick
AEK manager Marko Nikolic replaced his entire starting lineup at halftime and requested seriousness from his squad. Nikolic expressed satisfaction with the performance despite the squad changes, noting a large difference in quality between the two teams.
Mijat Gacinovic dominated after coming on at the break. The Serbian attacking midfielder doubled the lead in the 48th minute with a strike from outside the box, then added his second in the 51st minute by converting a rebound after goalkeeper Angelopoulos saved a shot from Majer.
Gacinovic completed his hat-trick in the 70th minute when Kairinen stole the ball high up the pitch and delivered a pass for a close-range finish to seal the 4-0 victory.
Team Lineups
AEK fielded Strakosha in goal, with Rota, Vida, Penrice, Relvas, Vitalis, Kutesa, Kaloskamis, Zubkov, Jovic, and Zini. Manager Marko Nikolic brought on Balamotis, Georgiev, Mukoudi, Pilios, Alexiou, Kairinen, Koita, Gacinovic, Majer, Varga, and Mantalos in the 46th minute.
Athens Kallithea, managed by Vangelis Moras, started Angelopoulos, Stamatoullas, Provydakis, Anastasiou, Tzandaris, Bautista, Faitakis, Lopez, Frosynis, and Romo. Moras introduced Mati, Kontonikos, and Kourfalidis in the 58th minute, Manias, Cantillo, and Varkas in the 67th minute, Kaliaros in the 71st minute, and Gezos and Venakis in the 81st minute.
