Greek sides mauled in Europa debuts

AEK and Panathinaikos got off to horrible starts on Matchday One of the Europa League, as both sides were comprehensively defeated by their respective opponents.

In Liverpool, ten-man AEK and its makeshift defence had no answers for Everton who stunned the Greek side with a blistering three goal first half display, eventually winning 4-0.

Panathianikos was outplayed on home soil by Turkish side Galatasaray who lead 3-0 before PAO managed a Dimitris Salpingidis consolation goal.

Everton (ENG) 4 - AEK 0

AEK got off the worst possible Europa League start after being thrashed by English Premier League side Everton 4-0 in a one-sided display at Everton's Goodison Park.

The home side shrugged aside it's Premier League problems cruising to victory after a blistering first half performance which saw them establish a half time lead.

AEK was without centre back captain Daniel Maestrovic and after losing their other centre back, Portuguese international Geraldo Alves, the aerial threat of Everton was always going to cause problems.

And it was no surprise that Everton capitalised on AEK's lack of presence from a corner after Joseph Yobo scored with an easy header after just ten minutes.
The home side doubled its lead again from a corner, when Sylvain Distin breached AEK's makeshift defence for the second time.

Juanfran and Nsaliwa both sent long-range efforts over for AEK before Pienaar showed how it should be done with Everton's third eight minutes before the break.

Receiving the ball midway inside the AEK half, he stepped forward before drilling a fine low shot into the bottom corner from 25 metres.

Barely ten minutes after the restart, AEK found itself with ten men after Carlos Araujo stupidly lashed out at his Everton marker, with play acting making the flick of Araujo's boot look a lot worse than it was.

Despite the dismissal and the three goal deficit, AEK's fanatical Original 21 supporters were creating a tremendous atmosphere in the stadium urging their side to continue.

They were denied a consolation goal when Ismael Blanco sent a close-range shot just wide. Instead Saha teed up Jô to turn and shoot low past Saja.

Saha was dismissed in injury time for violent conduct after he struck the face of one of the AEK defenders, souring an otherwise flawless performance for Everton.

Panathinaikos 1 - Galatasaray (TUR) 3

Brazilian forward Elano scored two goals and set up another for Milan Baroš as Frank Rijkaard's side gave their hosts a masterclass in clinical finishing.

The greens struggled to make an impression until Dimitris Salpingidis struck in the 78th minute, scant consolation for Henk ten Cate's men.

Galatasaray gave an indication of what was to come in the fifth minute, Baroš showing great skill to turn Josu Sarriegi and send over a low cross.

There looked little danger when Panathinaikos debutant Marinos, on his birthday, slid in to intercept but the ball fell to Elano who tapped in from close range.

The pace and movement of Elano and Baroš caused constant problems for the home rearguard, typified by the second goal three minutes after the break when the Czech international collected a precise pass from his team-mate, rounded Mario Galinović and rolled the ball into the empty net.

Two became three on 58, Elano's low free-kick from range deflecting off Sarriegi and into Galinović's bottom-right corner.

Leo Franco in the visiting goal was finally beaten with 12 minutes to play when Salpingidis raced on to Giorgos Karagounis's pass and slotted the ball in.

Panathinaikos will need to improve when they travel to Romania to tackle Dinamo Bucureşti in two weeks' time, while AEK will face Benfica at OAKA.