AEK beats Rovers in wet

AEK Athens have continued their blistering form at the Festival of Football - and poured more misery on a woeful Blackburn - with a comprehensive 2-1 win at the SFS on Wednesday night.

The Greek side scored two goals in three minutes midway through the first half to set up the victory, played in pouring rain on a miserable night in Sydney.

Rovers pulled a goal back late on through centre back Phil Jones but it was more than they deserved in a match completed dominated by AEK.

The diabolical conditions meant only a small crowd turned up but they were treated to some good football for most of the 90 minutes, especially from the Greeks.

It was AEK's second win in as many games in the tournament meaning a draw with Scottish giants Rangers on Sunday will assure them top spot on the ladder.

For Blackburn it's now back-to-back losses, not the preparation they would be after, ahead of their English Premier League campaign which begins with a home clash with Everton in just over two weeks.

Rovers manager Sam Allardyce made five changes to the side that lost to Rangers on Sunday - including starting Socceroo Brett Emerton on the right-hand side of midfield - but it made little difference as the Greeks controlled the early exchanges.

The match was not even a minute old when Rovers keeper Paul Robinson was called into action, well positioned to grab Lyberopoulos' well struck shot from just outside the box.

Leonardo had the Greek side's next chance on eight minutes but blazed his free kick over the bar. It was immediately after that strike that Sydney's foul weather led to some of the floodlights at the SFS to go out.

After checking with both captains, referee Peter Green allowed the match to continue in partial darkness. While it only took a few minutes for the light to return unfortunately Blackburn's performance didn't improve with it.

AEK were finding plenty of joy down their right and it was no surprise it was an attack down that channel that led to the opening goal on 21 minutes.

Former Adelaide star Nathan Burns raced onto a long pass from Pantelis Kafes and showed good pace to hold off Rovers defender Phil Jones.

After making himself a yard of space on the right, Burns then cut the ball back to Kafes who produced an audacious flick pass to Lyberopoulos to control before teeing up Ignacio Scocco, who beat one defender before getting a low shot away into the far corner.

It was exactly what the Greeks had deserved for their industry and attacking flair in the heavy conditions and it got even better just three minutes later.

Scocco turned provider this time, receiving a pass from Burns on the right before his wicked centre found its way to Lyberopoulos who produced a sensational finish on the half volley past a stranded Robinson.

Allardyce would have been hoping for a reaction from his side after the break but it almost got worse inside the first two minutes of the second half.

Rovers left-back Pascal Chimbonda played the ball back to his goalkeeper but the wet conditions saw it hold up which allowed Burns to almost nip in to intercept but Robinson just beat the young Aussie to the loose ball.

Robinson had to be alert six minutes later as Scocco played a delightful