Koita Shines as AEK Crush Panaitolikos 5-0 to Equal a 31-Game Club Record

By Taki Panos

Four days after a long night in Manchester, AEK came home and took it out on the first team through the door. The Double-Headed Eagle beat Panaitolikos 5-0 at the Allwyn Arena in Nea Filadelfeia on Saturday, October 24, 2026, in the eighth round of the Stoiximan Super League, as Gazzetta and in.gr reported. Moukoudi, Koita, Zini, Varga from the penalty spot and Zubkov scored, and the win put AEK one point behind leaders Panathinaikos with a game in hand.

Some context for anyone just catching up. On Tuesday, AEK lost 5-1 to Manchester City at the Etihad in the Champions League, and Gazzetta framed this match as the search for an emphatic reaction. Panaitolikos, coached by Giannis Anastasiou, arrived from Agrinio in poor shape. They opened the season with three straight wins and have now lost five in a row, in.gr noted. One of those defeats was a 2-0 home loss to Olympiacos a week ago.

It took four minutes for AEK to find the opening. Petros Mantalos swung in a corner and Moukoudi rose to head it in for 1-0, both outlets reported, with Gazzetta adding that goalkeeper Xenopoulos misjudged his run off the line. Set pieces have been a reliable weapon for this team, and in.gr called it AEK's favourite way to score. After that the visitors were pinned back. Mantalos scuffed a good chance in the box, and Xenopoulos stopped Zini one on one before the quarter hour.

The second goal came in the 23rd minute and it was the prettiest of the night. Vitalis opened the play out to the right for Koita, who carried the ball into the box, beat Stajic and finished well for 2-0, per Gazzetta, with in.gr noting he switched onto his left foot before shooting. In the 38th minute Koita turned provider. Rota found him on the right, he cut the ball back, and Zini placed it home for 3-0. The match was effectively over before halftime.

Panaitolikos had exactly one real moment in the first half. Around the half hour, Zini lost the ball in midfield and the visitors broke, but Moukoudi got across to block the shot, both reports said. After that, Brignoli only had to make an easy stop from substitute Alexic's low shot in the 63rd minute, per Gazzetta. In.gr summed up the first half as a monologue for AEK, three goals scored and chances for plenty more. Fair description. When a defender is your best player in both boxes, the evening is going well.

AEK eased off after the break, but it still found a fourth. Mantalos slipped Zini through, Xenopoulos brought him down, and referee Fitsas waved play on before VAR official Katoikos called him to the monitor, Gazzetta and in.gr reported. Varga converted the penalty in the 56th minute for 4-0. Nikolic then made a triple change on 62 minutes, sending on Koutesa, Marin and Jovic. Gazzetta had called it a surprise when Marin and Jovic were left on the bench at kickoff.

The fifth goal took a while. Zini smashed a shot from outside the box in the 64th minute that Xenopoulos got a hand to before it struck the crossbar, both outlets reported. Koita forced another save in the 79th minute and Zubkov dragged the follow-up just wide. In the 90th minute Koutesa was denied one on one and Marin headed past the post. Then, two minutes into stoppage time, Zubkov hit a powerful shot from outside the area to make it 5-0.

The bigger number is the streak. With this win AEK completed exactly one year without a league defeat, and Gazzetta reported that it equalled the club's historic records from the 1977-78 season and the 1992-93 run, with 31 consecutive league matches unbeaten. In.gr also counted 31 straight unbeaten league games. Their home form this season is just as ridiculous: seven wins from seven in Nea Filadelfeia with 30 goals scored and one conceded, per in.gr and Gazzetta.

Both outlets singled out Koita as the best player on the pitch, and it is hard to argue. Gazzetta described the Mauritanian winger as being in great spirits on the right, with a goal and an assist, and said Manrique had a long night trying to stop him. Gazzetta also praised the whole AEK midfield, with Mantalos setting up the opener and the penalty, and Vitalis and Kairinen controlling the centre with ball recoveries and clean passing.

After the match, Marko Nikolic pointed to his team's energy. "We had very high levels of intensity from the first to the last minute," he said, adding that the squad was already preparing for the Cup match, as Sport24 reported (translated from Greek). That focus makes sense. AEK travel to Toumba to face PAOK in the Greek Cup on Wednesday, then visit Panathinaikos in the league on Sunday, November 1, at 19:00 Athens time, per in.gr.

The table explains why that derby matters so much. In.gr has AEK on 17 points in second place, one behind Panathinaikos, with a game in hand because their match against Atromitos was postponed after Atromitos used the league's Joker Right rule. Panathinaikos play at Volos on Sunday, and Olympiacos host Kalamata the same afternoon. Panaitolikos stay on nine points in tenth. Elsewhere on Saturday, Kifisia came from behind to win 3-2 at Iraklis and climbed to sixth, while Asteras Tripolis and Levadiakos drew 0-0.

My take: a 5-0 win over a team on a five-game losing streak will not tell you much on its own. What it does show is how quickly this group shook off Manchester. Moukoudi, Koita and Mantalos all looked sharp, Nikolic still had room to rest key players, and the record now has a real chance to become a club best. The next eight days are the true test, with PAOK away in the Cup and Panathinaikos away in the league.

Can AEK make it 32 and own that record outright? We will find out soon enough. Keep an eye on our Greek Sports section for every Greek result from around the world, from the Super League to the NBA. A year without losing a league game. Not bad at all.

Sources: Gazzetta, in.gr, Sport24.

Image: Yellow flag with a black double-headed eagle in AEK colors by Kanchelskis, cropped, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0).