AEK Athens soar past Levski Sofia to book Champions League spot

[p][b]With nothing separating the two sides after a first-leg stalemate in [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/levski-sofia/E5OOzgs4/"]Sofia[/a], Marko Nikolic’s men made a dream start in [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/aek/ANpZncAM/"]Athens[/a] as [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/rota-lazaros/82l5eIuO/"]Lazaros Rota[/a]’s pinpoint delivery was glanced into the far corner by [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/jovic-luka/viIS0FT7/"]Luka Jovic[/a] for the Serbian’s fourth goal of the season. [/b][/p][p][b]Armed with the early momentum, the Greek champions doubled their lead just five minutes later, with [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/varga-barnabas/Gh7PibQI/"]Barnabas Varga[/a] latching onto [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/relvas-filipe/KhRndG6m/"]Filipe Relvas[/a]’ flicked header and finishing clinically into the bottom corner beyond [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/vutsov-svetoslav/f1R4nvFe/"]Svetoslav Vutsov[/a].[/b][/p][image alt="Match stats" id="d4565759-bcbc-4771-826f-45db43559421" credit-line="Flashscore" guid="6a55f1fa-60a7-4ddb-866d-a3fa41f78bdd" original-width="2160" original-height="2700" /][p]Stunned by the hosts’ quickfire double, Levski looked to gain a foothold in the contest before the half-hour mark as [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/everton-bala/E1ihaeaE/"]Everton Bala[/a] fired wastefully wide from long range.[/p][p][b]However, a third goal soon followed for AEK, with Varga rising highest in the box to head home [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/majer-lovro/444Jw1Mr/"]Lovro Majer[/a]’s outswinging corner, giving Nikolic’s side a commanding advantage. [/b][/p][p]Unbeaten in their last 15 games across all competitions (W10, D5), the visitors nearly pulled a goal back before half time, only for [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/dimitrov-kristian/OYW8mUs1/"]Kristian Dimitrov[/a]’s first-time effort to fly narrowly wide of the target.[/p][p]AEK remained the dominant team at the start of the second period, and they were given a golden opportunity to extend their lead further when [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/aldair/8j9NPcnT/"]Aldair Neves[/a] clumsily brought down Jovic in the box.[/p][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/marin-razvan/WYOcFAQk/"]Razvan Marin[/a] stepped up to the spot and dispatched a powerful penalty beyond Vutsov to all but seal victory for the hosts. [/b][/p][p]Levski looked to restore some pride with time ticking into the final 25 minutes, but [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/strakosha-thomas/I30e9nTO/"]Thomas Strakosha[/a] stood firm to deny [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/kusso-david/viuRYZAf/"]David Kusso[/a], while [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/trdin-gasper/j3LsSQOg/"]Gasper Trdin[/a] blazed over from range.[/p][embed guid="aa285985-b825-4ccb-a3af-84857978e33e" url="https://x.com/ChampionsLeague/status/2092718923233865858" social-type="twitter" /][p]The Bulgarian champions continued to probe for a consolation, but Kusso saw another strike denied by Strakosha as AEK eased through the closing stages to extend their dominant home record in Europe to just one defeat in their last 11 outings (W9, D1).[/p][p]As for Levski, they take their place in the UEFA Europa League, partaking in the main draw of a UEFA competition for the first time since 2010/11.[/p][p][b]Flashscore Man of the Match: [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/rota-lazaros/82l5eIuO/"]Lazaros Rota[/a] ([a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/aek/ANpZncAM/"]AEK Athens[/a])[/b][/p][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/aek-athens-ANpZncAM/levski-sofia-E5OOzgs4/?mid=63Dqw6Ot"]See all stats from the match here[/a][/b][/p]