Shakhtar Beat AEK 3-1 at Stamford Bridge After Late Brignoli Error

By Taki Panos

For most of Wednesday night in west London, AEK looked like the team more likely to win. Then the last ten minutes happened. Shakhtar Donetsk beat the Greek champions 3-1 at Stamford Bridge on matchday 2 of the Champions League league phase, as TA NEA reported. Lovro Majer put AEK ahead, Pedrinho levelled from the penalty spot, and two Shakhtar goals in six minutes late on, per Novasports, turned a promising evening into a painful one. A costly mistake from goalkeeper Alberto Brignoli started the collapse.

Why was a Ukrainian club at home in Chelsea's stadium? The short answer is the war. Shakhtar have not played at the Donbass Arena in Donetsk since 2014 and have staged their home European games in Poland, Germany and Slovenia since Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022, the BBC explained. This season they picked Stamford Bridge, free because Chelsea are not in Europe, for home games against AEK, Sporting, Fenerbahce and Real Madrid, as Sky Sports also reported. London has a large Ukrainian community, and the club wanted a big stage.

AEK arrived in good spirits. The Greek champions opened their league phase with a 1-0 home win over LASK, according to the club's fixture list and the official results summary, and they had beaten OFI 3-0 in the league. Hours before kickoff, the AEK under-19s beat Shakhtar 2-1 across town in the Youth League. Coach Marko Nikolic said at least 10,000 AEK fans would be in the stands, per ERT and Newsbeast. The mood was good. The script, less so.

The start could hardly have been better. In the third minute, Harold Moukoudi met a Majer corner with a header that came back off the post, as TA NEA and Novasports both reported. Shakhtar answered around the ten-minute mark when Alisson worked space and forced a good save from Brignoli. In the 14th minute Marin set up Luka Jovic, who fired over. Open, quick football, the kind worth staying up for.

The opener came in the 28th minute, and it was a lovely goal. Koita won the ball in midfield, Stavros Pilios carried it down the left past two defenders and cut it back, and Majer finished calmly for 1-0, Novasports described. TA NEA also singled out Pilios for the run that made it. For a few minutes, everything was going AEK's way, and the travelling fans let London know about it.

Shakhtar replied quickly. Alisson went down under a challenge from Filipe Relvas inside the box, and after a VAR review the referee pointed to the spot, per TA NEA and Novasports. Pedrinho beat Brignoli to level it just after the half-hour mark. Novasports noted that the AEK bench was furious about the penalty call. AEK kept pushing. Marin shot over and Zini, unmarked around the penalty spot, headed over just before the break. It was 1-1 at half-time when AEK could easily have led.

The second half opened with two more big AEK chances. Koita and Jovic combined to set up Pilios, whose shot was saved by Shakhtar goalkeeper Dmytro Riznyk, Novasports reported. In the 56th minute Marin hit a direct free kick from about 30 meters that Riznyk tipped behind, as TA NEA also noted. Around the 70-minute mark, with tiredness starting to show and Shakhtar gaining ground, Nikolic sent on Mijat Gacinovic and Joao Mario for Zini and Majer.

Then came the moment that decided the night. AEK were briefly down to ten men because Jovic was slow to leave the pitch during a substitution and Barnabas Varga was not yet allowed on, both TA NEA and Novasports reported. In the 80th minute, Vinicius hit a hard shot from a tight angle, Brignoli misjudged it, and the ball went in off him at his near post. Novasports logged it as an own goal, while the Guardian credits Vinicius. Either way, it was 2-1 Shakhtar.

AEK had no time to recover. In the 86th minute, substitute Gleiker Mendoza went on a fine solo run and smashed the ball in for 3-1, per TA NEA, Novasports and To Vima. AEK substitute Oleksandr Zubkov even hit the post in stoppage time, Novasports reported, though the flag was up for offside. It was that kind of night.

The cruel part is that Nikolic had seen this coming, at least in general terms. "Shakhtar are a very good team with quality players from Brazil and beyond. They play good football and with intensity. There is no room for mistakes," he said before the game, as quoted by ERT and EfSyn (translated from Greek). AEK made one big one, at the worst possible time. Novasports' headline said AEK did not deserve a defeat like this, and To Vima said the Brignoli error left AEK hanging.

In the table, the damage is limited. It was Shakhtar's first win of the league phase, lifting them to four points, while AEK took their first loss and stay on three, Novasports noted. After two rounds, AEK sit 20th of 36 in the standings, per the league table, which matches the Guardian's table. In the new format, the top eight go straight to the last 16 and teams from 9th to 24th go into a play-off round, so there is plenty still to play for.

My take: I came away more encouraged than worried. AEK were the better side for long stretches, created plenty of good chances, and played with real courage. What they did not do was finish the job. When you hit the post, miss headers from the penalty spot and let a goalkeeper make big saves, the game will eventually punish you. A single error should not decide a match you control. Tonight it did, and that is the lesson for a team still finding its feet at this level.

Things do not get easier. AEK travel to Manchester City on Tuesday, October 20, then host Real Madrid on November 4, according to the club's schedule and the league phase fixture list. For more Greek football, basketball and Greek athletes around the world, keep an eye on our Greek Sports section. Tough night in London. Bigger nights are coming.

Sources: TA NEA, Novasports, To Vima, The Guardian, BBC Sport, Sky Sports, ERT, EfSyn, Newsbeast, AEK FC.

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