Rayo Vallecano thrash AEK Athens to put one foot in Conference League semi-finals

[p]First-leg winners in six of their previous eight two-legged continental ties (D1, L1), Rayo’s thrust for yet another opening leg success took just two minutes to ignite.[/p][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/garcia-alvaro/OMUGUEla/"]Alvaro Garcia[/a] was the architect, as his cutback into the box was clinically swept into the far corner by [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/akhomach-ilias/ATAVnRY7/"]Ilias Akhomach[/a] - the Moroccan’s first goal since joining on loan from Villarreal. [/b][/p][p]Undeterred, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/aek/ANpZncAM/"]AEK[/a] responded well to that early setback, with [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/jovic-luka/viIS0FT7/"]Luka Jovic[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/koita-aboubakary/AgRo5z33/"]Aboubakary Koïta[/a] seeing a pair of promising close-range efforts blocked.[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/rayo-vallecano/8bcjFy6O/"]Rayo[/a] thought they’d doubled their lead in the 20th minute, when [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/lejeune-florian/fNu1l3xc/"]Florian Lejeune[/a] produced an audacious flick to divert Akhomach’s low strike into the net, but an offside [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/lopez-unai/dYFtDut6/"]Unai Lopez[/a] was deemed to have obstructed the view of [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/strakosha-thomas/I30e9nTO/"]Thomas Strakosha[/a].[/p][image alt="Match momentum" id="86ea1652-c020-43e1-878e-2a39ca0e388b" credit-line="Opta by StatsPerform" guid="6e96a343-ca3a-498e-ae00-e1777225a91f" original-width="1920" original-height="1080" /][p]Keen to make the most of that reprieve, the visitors came within inches of restoring parity, as [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/varga-barnabas/Gh7PibQI/"]Barnabas Varga[/a]’s powerful header was superbly tipped onto the post by [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/batalla-augusto/8Wuyaqc4/"]Augusto Batalla[/a].[/p][p][b]AEK were left to rue that missed opportunity, with Los Franjirrojos scoring a second on the stroke of half-time through Lopez, who tapped home from six yards after Strakosha could only parry Akhomach’s initial effort.[/b][/p][p]Winless on their previous nine visits to Spain (D2, L7), Marko Nikolic’s men saw plenty of the ball after the restart.[/p][p]But clear-cut openings were in short supply, and despite taking their foot off the gas, Rayo remained the more threatening of the two sides in the final third, with [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/alemao/ljVRztTj/"]Alemao[/a] firing narrowly wide from inside the box.[/p][embed guid="892df881-c97c-4d1a-b19e-12c9c9676b8c" url="https://x.com/RayoVallecano/status/2042310292810367215" social-type="twitter" /][p]The hosts were given a golden chance to extend their lead further in the 74th minute when [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/relvas-filipe/KhRndG6m/"]Filipe Relvas[/a] was harshly penalised for a handball in the area, [b]and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/palazon-isaac/x2AuZhpr/"]Isi Palazon[/a] made no mistake from the spot, sending Strakosha the wrong way to net his sixth goal of the season.[/b][/p][p]AEK looked determined to avoid further damage with time heading into the final quarter-hour, and Alemao went close once again for the hosts, shooting narrowly wide from long range.[/p][p]The visitors were able to create one final meaningful chance in stoppage time, but Zini wastefully headed wide from eight yards, as Rayo secured a commanding first-leg victory to extend AEK’s dismal winless record against Spanish opposition[/p][p][b]Flashscore Man of the Match: [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/ciss-pathe/zRB7v9IT/"]Pathe Ciss[/a] (Rayo Vallecano)[/b][/p][image alt="Key match stats" id="d70e5fc6-711e-4816-93e7-e541574b01ac" credit-line="Opta by StatsPerform" guid="e7e7d626-3c2e-4818-9332-bc5e4ad7cccd" original-width="1080" original-height="1080" /][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/aek-athens-ANpZncAM/rayo-vallecano-8bcjFy6O/?mid=61dcIN26"]Click here for more on the match with Flashscore.[/a][/b][/p]