Five shots on target, five goals: AEK Athens 2-3 Real Madrid at Allwyn Arena

Highlights

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Five shots on target. Five goals. Thirty-three attempts at Allwyn Arena, and not one that found the frame went to waste — the last of them, in stoppage time, decided the whole night.

AEK struck first in the 12th minute, Aboubakary Koita converting a Luka Jović assist from a chance worth 0.044 xG. Madrid monopolised 69% of the ball but kept wasting it: Kylian Mbappé off target in the 21st, Vinícius Júnior thwarted twice around the half-hour. The equaliser came from Jude Bellingham in the 32nd, a 0.202 xG finish off Marc Cucurella's pass. Madrid kept missing anyway — Bernardo Silva skewed a 0.51 xG chance wide on the stroke of half-time — and it stayed 1-1.

The second half rhymed. Mbappé missed again in the 62nd, was denied in the 65th, blocked in the 71st — and AEK, limited to nine shots and 0.78 xG all night, went ahead anyway in the 75th: Koita turned provider, Stavros Pilios made it 2-1. Three minutes later Madrid levelled, Denzel Dumfries picking out Mbappé for a 0.765 xG chance that finally found the net. 2-2.

The decisive actor came off the bench. Federico Valverde replaced Yan Diomande in the 67th minute; Brahim Díaz went on for Cucurella in the 81st. In the second minute of stoppage time the two combined — Brahim's pass, a Valverde strike from distance worth 0.024 xG — and it flew in for 2-3. A substitute scored it. A substitute made it.

The arithmetic is punishing for the hosts: 31% possession against 69%, nine shots against 24, 0.78 xG against 3.39. Madrid trailed twice and refused to stay behind — Bellingham levelled once, Mbappé levelled the other, and Valverde settled it. AEK converted both of their shots on target and still walked away with nothing. Insistence beats economy. Ask anyone who stayed to the 92nd minute in Athens.