by Callum Ellis
Date: Thursday 7 June, 2018
Venue: Cyncoed Stadium, Cardiff
Goals: Aggelatos (7’) Karantakis (64’) Araya (71’) Coaney (87’)
EVIA Region surrendered a two-goal lead in their second fixture of the 2018 Regions Cup at Cyncoed Stadium on Thursday.
Goals from both Dimitrios Aggelatos and Panagiotis Karantakis seemed as though they would be enough for the Greek side to secure their second win of the tournament, before Gothenburg hit back with two late goals.
Gothenburg enjoyed much of the possession early on, but failed to cause any problems for Evia goalkeeper Dimitrios Ntoumanis.
After soaking up the pressure from the Swedish side, Evia took the lead through Aggelatos.
Andreas Kourtis’ brilliant solo run found the feet of Aggelatos, who made no mistake in front of goal to give his side an early lead.
The Swedish side had a glorious chance to equalise inside the 17thminute through Marcos Valenzuela Abello as he went through on goal, before forcing Ntoumanis into a save from close range.
Evia midfielder Vaios Kalochoridis was shown the first yellow card of the game following a challenge on Valenzuela Abello.
From the resulting free-kick, Gothenburg captain Kassim Coaney again looked to draw his side level, but failed to guide his header on target.
Evia went close to doubling their lead mid-way through the first half. Idomeneas Anastasiou’s cross into the area found the goalscorer Aggelatos, who forced a strong save from Emil Kecevic.
The Greek side headed into the interval with a deserved lead after dominating the possession throughout the opening half.
Karantakis went close to increasing Evia’s advantage in the opening minutes of the second half, though he failed to connect well with Kourtis’ cross into the area.
While Gothenburg continued to search for a way back into the game, Evia grabbed their second goal just after the hour mark. Karantakis pounced on Hasan Ismail Kose’s attempted clearance, before firing past Kecevic to double his side’s advantage.
But the Swedish side’s response saw them halve the deficit through an unlikely source. Ihab Yasin found defender Henos Araya in space on the edge of the area, and he rifled the ball beyond Ntoumanis to setup an entertaining end to the encounter.
Gothenburg’s goal saw their confidence grow as Nuri Akyol and Coaney both went close to drawing their side level.
The equaliser finally came three minutes from time as Rengber Kalash’s cross into the middle found Coaney, who headed beyond Kecevic to draw the Swedish side level.
Gothenburg had a glorious chance to complete the turnaround in the third minute of added time. The goalscorer Araya raced through on goal, before Ntoumanis did well to close down the space and earn his side a point.
Evia now travel to Barry Town’s Jenner Park as they face South Wales FA on Sunday, while Gothenburg return to Cyncoed Stadium where they take on Amateurs FYR Macedonia.
Evia Region: Ntoumanis, Tzavras (Kallitsis 78’), Balozi, Karampas, Kalochoridis, Ntourmas, Anastasiou, Karantakis, Aggelatos (Zourmpoulis 90+1’), Kourtis (Papadakis 66’), Pilatis.
Region of Gothenburg: Kecevic, Araya, Zumberi, Lundqvist (Frindt Faundez 66’), Kalash, Coaney, Akyol, Valenzuela Abello, Aslaner, Yasin, Kose.
Be the first to comment