Larissa and PAOK take upper hand in Cup semis
Larissa upset AEK in the first leg of the Greek Cup semifinal and is looking good to meet the other semi’s hot favorite PAOK in the final, given the Thessaloniki club’s triumph at Panionios.
Larissa left it late but managed to find the winning goal and beat AEK 2-1 at home on Thursday, as well as beating disappointment from AEK’s goal that should not have counted.
The Athens club took the lead with Masoud Shojaei who capitalized on Larissa players being stunned after a dangerous foul committed by Erik Moran and not given.
The hosts made amends right away through a debatable penalty decision that Thomas Nazlidis converted into the equalizer.
AEK pressed for a winner, Lazaros Christodoulopoulos hit the goal frame, but it was Larissa that scored, deep in injury time, with its goal coming from Sandi Krizman.
A day earlier PAOK had downed Panionios 3-1 at Nea Smyrni and has all but clinched its spot in the final.
A spectacular first-half performance by holder PAOK saw it lead 2-0 through goals by Mauricio and Aleksandar Prijovic. Diego Biseswar added a third in the second half before Panayiotis Korbos scored a consolation goal for Panionios five minutes from time.
The return legs will take place in early April.
