AEK had already booked a place in the knockout stages, but a win would see them head straight to the last 16. They quickly set about trying to secure another three points, as Aboubakary Koita hit the post following a neat move just three minutes in, before Luka Jovic sent an effort wide and a near-post Domogoj Vida header at a corner just cleared the crossbar.
Nineteen minutes in, after Díkefalos won the ball high up the pitch, Orbelin Pineda’s strike took a huge deflection and the stranded Pavlo Isenko could only watch the ball land on the roof of his net.
Beginning the night a point inside the top 24, only a victory would secure the visitors safe passage, and they began to cause the home defence problems midway through the half when Thomas Strakosha had to get down smartly to deny Monday Etim’s volley.
Having fired that warning shot, Etim carved out another chance after half an hour, and this time Strakosha could only bat it to Stefan Baiaram, who made no mistake with the rebound. CSU Craiova saw two attempts late in the half – an Assad Al Hamlawi header and a Samuel Teles volley - both drop a whisker wide, either side of Isenko clawing away a firm Jovic header.
Jovic was at the heart of the Greek side’s attempted fightback soon after HT, but could neither connect cleanly with a low cross six yards out, nor direct a header on target with the whole goal to aim at.
Just as they did in the first half, the visitors soaked up the pressure and made AEK pay, as a counter-attack from inside their own penalty area just before the hour mark resulted in Alexandru Cicaldau playing a neat one-two with Al Hamlawi, before a fortunate ricochet made the ball sit up nicely for Cicaldau to power past the rooted Strakosha.
However, the home side were back in it seven minutes later when Isenko failed to claim a Razvan Marin corner, allowing Vida to nod home. That goal gave Marko Nikolic’s side license to throw bodies forward late on, but Isenko wasn’t called into action until he caught another Vida header seven minutes from time.
Alb-albastrii thought they had earned a first H2H win at the third attempt, but in the final minute of stoppage time, a curling Niclas Eliasson cross was met at the back post by a thumping header from Dereck Kutesa.
But the drama wasn’t over, as with seconds remaining, Vida was caught inside the area, and following a long VAR check, the referee awarded a penalty. Jovic stepped up, and this time he wouldn’t be denied, sending the goalkeeper the wrong way.
The 105th-minute winner sees AEK finish in third place, while U Craiova miss out on the top 24 on goals scored.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Domagoj Vida (AEK Athens)
