Champions APOEL celebrate with win over Omonoia
 

CYPRIOT 1st DIV: CHAMPIONSHIP PLAYOFFS (MATCHDAY 7)

Champions APOEL defeated rivals Omonoia 2:1 in the weekend’s derby in Cyprus.

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With the championship locked up, APOEL were hosted by their eternal enemies Omonoia at the GSP Stadium for matchday nine of the Cypriot First Division championship group. The game did not have any interest regarding the standings, as APOEL secured their seventh championship in a row last week and Omonoia are certain to finish sixth.

Lucas Souza gave APOEL the lead with the first half’s only goal and Roman Bezjak doubled the advantage shortly after the restart. Omonoia’s Lucas Vyntra scored for the hosts to form the final 2:1 scoreline.

After the game, the team headed to the club building were they celebrated the 2019 title with thousands of fans.

THE MATCH

APOEL started strong looking for the opener and created early opportunities around Omonoia’s penalty area. Eighteen minutes into the game, Antonio Jakolis sent a cross from the right side, reaching Mickael Facchinetti , and the Swiss found Souza open in the heart of Omonoia’s defense and he beat Tomas Mejias to open the scoring.

Omonoia were unable to answer back, while on the other hand APOEL came close to doubling their lead before half-time. First, Nuno Morais received the ball from a corner kick by Musa Al-Taamari, but Mejias denied his effort. Al-Taamari’s free-kick followed with his effort going wide.

Five minutes into the second half, Tomas De Vincenti took the free kick, the ball went through all the attackers, confusing Mejias and ending up into his net. The goal was credited to Bezjak who jumped for the header and the ball seemed to have scraped his back before going into the net.

APOEL slowed their pace after doubling the lead, giving Omonoia the chance to go forward and try to get back into the game. APOEL, though, missed a big chance for a third goal when Morais went on the counter, but was again beaten by Mejias one-on-one.

In the 76th minute, Omonoia found the back of the net to get back into the game. Jordi Gomez took the corner kick and Vyntra jumped higher than the rest to head home past Boy Waterman. During stoppage time, Christian Manrique sent a cross into the heart of APOEL’s defense, but David Ramirez failed to push it into the net, missing a great chance for the late equalizer.

Omonoia: Tomas Mejias, Christian Manrique, Lucas Vyntra, Ioannis Kousoulos, Marco Motta, Alex Soares, Jordi Gomez, Dimitris Kolovos (Cris Montes), David Ramirez (Loizos Loizou), Matt Derbyshire, Charis Mavrias (Charalambos Charalambous)

APOEL: Boy Waterman, Giorgos Merkis, Praxitelis Vouros, Nicholas Ioannou, Mickael Facchinetti, Antonio Jakolis, Lucas Souza, Nuno Morais (Kostakis Artymatas), Musa Al-Taamari (Giorgos Efraim), Tomas De Vincenti, Roman Bezjak (Norbert Balogh)

HIGHLIGHTS: OMONIA - APOEL

by Marios Antoniou

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