AEK, the double-headed eagle of Athens, has qualified for the Greek Cup final; for the sixth time in the last eight years.

While Matías Almeyda’s team suffered a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Olympiacos at “Karaiskakis” Stadium, they were delivered to the ultimate match thanks to a 3-0 victory against their Piraeus-based rivals in the first leg of the semi’s on 10 February.

Barring a miracle, AEK will play off against PAOK, the northern two-headed bird of prey, in the big game.

That all depends on the Thessaloniki side’s showdown with Lamia, who PAOK smashed in their last meeting with a 5-1 result.

Olympiacos kept firm control of scoring in the faceoff, perhaps a little too firm…

Pundits expected Olympiacos to make a strong entry to the match and put the pressure on from kick-off.

And they did, a misstep by AEK’s Harold Moukoudi was capitalised on by South Korean Hwang In-beom, but his attempt went askew with the ball going just wide of Cican Stanković’s left-hand post around the seven-minute mark.

The hosts continued the attack and by the 27th minute they’d opened the scores with a cross from Cédric Bakambu slotted in via a dynamite header from Mathieu Valbuena.

Their efforts put a little fire into the proverbial belly of the match, as AEK realised if they didn’t pick up the slack their 3-0 success against Olympiacos in February wouldn’t guarantee them passage to the final.

Pick up the slack they did, to an extent.

Orbelín Pineda’s 44th minute header tried its best to find the net, but slipped just outside Alexandros Paschalakis’ goal.

With the score at 1-0 by half time, the heat was just starting to build up.

AEK reverted to well-worn tactics, putting extreme pressure on the Piraeus giants and were immediately vindicated.

Paschalakis made a save during a stock-standard 4-on-4 headed by Levi García in the 47th minute, but the Trinbagonian had a little more luck five minutes later.

He made a shot attempt from outside the box, which was ballsed up by Ousseynou Ba who diverted the course of the ball… into Olympiacos’ own net.

The ‘red and whites’ habit of unashamedly amassing own goals evidently continued this season.

Though in short order, Olympiacos took back the lead with a terrific right-footed shot from In-beom at about 25 metres in the game’s 57th minute.

Alas it wasn’t enough to snag the qualification.

AEK shut the doors behind them on their way to the final in what will be their first appearance in three years.