James Penrice reveals Hearts Euro heartache fuelled AEK goal glut in Aberdeen demolition

James Penrice says that AEK’s goal glut in Aberdeen’s thumping was spurred by Hearts’ Euro anguish.

James Penrice acknowledges that Hearts’ failure to qualify for the Conference League play-offs due to goals scored motivated his desire to help AEK Athens defeat Aberdeen. The full defender played a crucial role in the Jambos team that participated in the tournament’s redesigned group stages under Steven Naismith and Neil Critchley the previous season. However, the team was eliminated after being held to a 2-2 draw by Moldovan minnows Petrocub at Tynecastle.
Hearts only scored six goals in their six games, earning them seven points and preventing them from securing a play-off spot. Since his massive £2 million transfer to Greek powerhouse AEK last summer, Penrice has struggled to get regular minutes, but he provided a timely reminder of his values with a The 26-year-old barely gave Adil Aouchiche and Alexander Jensen a sniff down the Dons right, and he was unfortunate not to pick up an assist during the rout when Filipe Relvas had a header from Penrice’s excellent set piece ball bounce back of the post.

The former Livingston and Partick Thistle player also has firsthand knowledge of how close the margins are in European football when it comes to scoring goals. “The message was that we could have scored a lot more. Goals are essential in this competition, as I know from missing out on one last year. Therefore, it was crucial that we score as many goals as we could. I liked it; since Aberdeen is from Scotland, winning this game was crucial for me.

However, it was also about scoring three points and getting the first victory on the board. Aberdeen got into good areas early in the game and caused us some problems, which truly impressed me. However, Abou’s (Koita’s) talent then comes into play; he got us going, and I believe we developed into the game after that. I have to give it my all every time I on the field in order to play as many games as I can and keep the jersey. I must perform. “We are excited for our big derby in Greece, Olympiacos, which is on Sunday. It is going to be enormous.”

The AEK star has now reciprocated Aberdeen defender Nicky Devlin’s gushing praise of his close friend and former Livi teammate Penrice in the lead-up to the game by admitting that they exchanged pleasantries both before and after the match. “We spoke for 10 minutes there after the game” , he said. “When I was at Livingston, Nicky was one of my closest football friends, and I always looked up to him. He did things correctly while serving as my captain. “He moved to Aberdeen and has done a fantastic job continuing things. I hold him in the highest regard.

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