A deft second half header by captain Petros Mantalos was enough to give AEK Athens a 1-0 victory over Atromitos in the first leg of the semi-final of the Greek Cup.

Less than 24-hours after a bizarre turn of events saw former AEK champion Stelios Manolas take over as coach of the club and lead the team to an important win against an Atromitos side coached by Traianos Dellas, who started the season on the bench of AEK.

Last Tuesday, one day before the game, Uruguayan Gustavo Poyet was fired by AEK.

The 47-year-old, who had been linked with the vacant managerial post at Aston Villa, joined AEK in October replacing Traianos Dellas.

Press reports said AEK chief Dimitris Melissanidis was unhappy that Poyet had told the media he would be leaving the club at the end of the season prior to informing him.

“What he did was unacceptable, it was not the appropriate time to unsettle the team just hours before the semi-final,” Melissanidis told reporters, labeling the former Sunderland coach “immoral”.

He later went on to announce that former AEK and Greek international Stelios Manolas will take over on an interim basis.

Manolas chose to play Mantalos in a role that gave the Greek international more freedom and it paid off with the AEK captain having his best game in months and capping it off with the winning goal.

Meanwhile, AEK finished the regular Super League season in third place with 54 points with runaway Olympiakos already crowned champion with 85 points.

The club will be involved in a post-season tournament with Panathinaikos, PAOK and Panionios or PAS Giannina to determine places in European competition.