Oliveira and Tsintotas put AEK through in Switzerland

AEK owes it to a Portuguese striker and a Greek goalkeeper that it has advanced to the playoffs of the Europa League, by beating St Gallen 1-0 in Switzerland on Thursday.

The Portuguese striker is Nelson Oliveira, who took the penalty St Gallen conceded after 71 barren minutes in the game, and did not give it up when the hosts' goallie parried the ball - Oliveira got the rebound to score the game's only goal.

The other hero of the game was keeper Panayiotis Tsintotas, who kept a clean sheet by resolving all difficult situations for AEK in the first half, including averting an own goal by Emanuel Insua.

AEK is now one step from the group stage of the Europa League, although this seems more like a leap needed given that the Greek team's opponent will be Germany team Wolfsburg next Thursday.