Sorry for the delay for this one. AEKMAN74 posted a good summary of the game which you can check out as well.

Well, my Father and I decided that since I only have half a year left in Greece before I, unfortunately, have to return to North America for university (don't get me wrong, I love North America, I just don't know how long I'll be able to stay away from AEK) we'd go up to Thessaloniki and watch this one so I could experience a proper away game.

Well, all I can say is we were lucky. PAO had a few incredible chances to score a few goals but were either stopped by the post or Arabatzis. But, they never should have won in the first round against us so it's all good

We started without Makos which was great news. Our starting XI was Arabatzis, Araujo, Majstorovic, Geraldo, Karabelas, Manduca, Kafes, Jahic, Blanco, Scocco, and Djebbour.

So, we drew to PAOK and Lost to Oly. Things were looking very bad and people were wondering "what's wrong with the players???". Well, I don't know what was wrong with them but yesterday's 4-2 win against Aris saw a completely different team on the pitch. Sure, a little late to start playing some football but better late than never and to be honest we still have a chance of getting something worthwhile out of these playoffs if we keep this up.

So our players went into this game after the first half of what has been the worst season in AEK's history. Few fans were expecting such a win and such a pleasing performance from our boys. But, they pulled it off (whether the 150,000 Euro bonus they were promised helped at all I dont know) and we have begun the new decade with a fantastic win!

So, after our incredible win only five days earlier people were expecting similar things from last nights game. We thought we were going to get it also after building a healthy 3-1 lead with plenty of time left. The final score? 3-3

One thing was to blame for this result more than anything else.

Well, it wasn't a pretty win, but at the end of they day it was a well deserved three points. One goal was scored from Djebbour (who was superb today) and two from not Blanco, not Scocco (he didn't play in the end), not Leonardo, Hersi, or Guerreiro, but.... KAFES!

No videos up yet, I'll get some tomorrow.

AEK held its first training session of the season at Thrakomakedones today though with a smaller than usual squad (others will be showing up slowly). Regardless, four of our new signings were present today including Liberopoulos. He sounded confident that we can do something good this season. As happy as I am to hear that I don't know if I'm as confident.

AEK face Panserraikos tomorrow in Rizoupoli. The game is sold out (not surprisingly considering season tickets are almost as many as the stadium's capacity) which should make for a great atmosphere in a football friendly stadium... assuming we get the result we desperately need! Both Olympiakos (2-0 against Kerkyra in a closed doors Karaiskaki) and PAO (1-0 away to Aris) won this weekend meaning we have a tough hurdle to overcome if we want to stay near the top (if we lose that is).

For teams like AEK, games against opponents such as Panserraikos, Kerkyra, Thrasivoulos, etc, should be MUST WINS. Three points are crucial and while we will unfortunately drop them at times in the derbies, there is no excuse to not take advantage of weaker opposition. Fortunately for us this weekend, we did manage to get all three points, and while it is still early, these three points could prove to be vital.

You gotta love AEK. The minute a golden opportunity comes around to put us within two points of first place, what do we do? We waste it!

Panionios hasn't been our luckiest team to play against recently, and today proved to be no different. However, very little, not even luck, could have assisted us today with the way our players played (as was evident considering the fact that Saja saved a penalty).