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AEK Athens subject woeful Aberdeen to biggest ever European defeat

AEK Athens' Niclas Eliasson celebrates after scoring his side's third goal
AEK Athens' Niclas Eliasson celebrates after scoring his side's third goalČTK / AP / Thanassis Stavrakis / Profimedia

AEK Athens stormed to an emphatic 6-0 victory over a lacklustre Aberdeen at the OPAP Arena. The loss extends the Scottish side’s wait for a first-ever win against Greek opposition (D1, L3), and confines Aberdeen to their biggest ever European defeat.

Meeting for the first-ever time, both sides came into the encounter with mixed recent form, but with the hosts having won their last five European home games, they started as firm favourites against the Scottish visitors.

And despite a feisty start from Aberdeen, it was the Greek hosts who took an early lead in the 11th minute when Aboubakary Koita picked up Orbelin Pineda’s precise pass and smashed in a great strike from the edge of the box into the far corner of Dimitar Mitov's net.

Having started the brighter of the sides, Aberdeen were stunned, and it was to get worse just seven minutes later.

This time, it was Lazaros Rota who expertly set up Koita, unmarked inside the box, who then fired the ball into the bottom-right corner to double his and his side’s tally. 

The Dons were reeling, and there was to be no let-up when, less than 10 minutes later, the hosts inflicted further punishment.

Aberdeen carelessly lost possession on the edge of their own box, and Pineda played in Niclas Eliasson inside the box, whose low and hard shot toward the left-hand corner was turned in inadvertently by Don’s defender Nicky Devlin, who was desperately sliding across the goal line in an attempt to clear.

With the match now almost over as a contest, AEK continued to dominate the ball until half-time.

Match stats
Match statsOpta by Stats Perform

To stand any chance of staging an unlikely comeback, The Dons needed a bright start after the break.

However, it was the hosts who compounded matters for the visitors when they scored yet again after Franzdy Pierrot's initial strike had crashed off the far post, and Razvan Marin acrobatically fired the rebound in over his head to put the game to bed on 57 minutes.

With Aberdeen facing a big loss, their motivation had drastically ebbed, and the hosts were now passing the ball around for fun - notching an impressive 80 per cent average of second-half possession.

With the Dons slumping to defeat, the Greek side mercilessly finished the contest with two goals in the final ten minutes of the match.

The fifth goal came when Luka Jovic robbed Mitov of the ball and smashed into the roof of the Aberdeen net, before Derek Kutesa was practically all alone as he latched on to a pass deep inside the Dons' half and to slot beyond a despairing Mitov.

The loss was Aberdeen’s biggest ever European defeat, whilst AEK claim their first win in this season’s UEFA Europa Conference League.

Flashscore Man of the Match: Aboubakary Koita (AEK Athens)

Catch up on the match stats with Flashscore.