5-star AEK qualify for Europa League playoffs in style, Apollon through despite narrow loss
UEFA EUROPA LEAGUE - 3RD QUALIFYING ROUND (LEG 2)
| Brest | 1 - 0 | Apollon Limassol |
|---|---|---|
| Nekhajchik 86' |
1 -4 Agg. |
All 3 Cypriot teams are into the UEFA Europa League playoffs. AEK Larnaca punched their ticket in style with an emphatic 5:0 win at home to Sturm Graz, while Apollon coasted through on the back of their performance last week. APOEL came from behind to defeat Hapoel Beer Sheva 3:1 in Nicosia.
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Apollon were off to Belarus and the Brestsky Stadium in Brest to visit Dinamo Brest, holding a 4:0 advantage from last week’s first leg match in Cyprus. Apollon started with a good rush as Joao Pedro sent Emilio Zelaya in on goal, Zelaya collided with the charging Dinamo Brest keeper Aleksandr Gutor, and emerged with the ball, but could only get off a weak shot, which was cleared off the line by Kiki. Zeljko Filipovic returned fire for the hosts with a strike, but Bruno Vale was able to tip the shot over the net. The rest of the first half yielded nothing and the score was 0:0 at halftime.
The teams continued to trade chances in the second half. Chidi Osuchukwu had an effort from in tight, that Vale was able to kick aside. Another good through ball found Zelaya, but once again, Gutor was aggressive and gave him little net to shoot at, making the save.
There would be a late winner in this one as five minutes from time, Maksim Vitus made an incisive pass to Pavel Nekhaychik, who cleverly sidestepped Sasa Markovic to create space for himself, and let off a shot that just barely eluded Vale. It was a dramatic, late victory for Dinamo Brest, but only a moral victory, as Apollon still advanced comfortably on aggregate, 4:1.
Apollon will be facing Swiss side Basel with the first game to be in Switzerland Thursday, August 23rd, and the second game on Thursday, August 30th at GSP Stadium in Nicosia.
| AEK Larnaca | 5 - 0 | Sturm Graz |
|---|---|---|
| Trickovski 8',67',80' Larena 65' Taulamesse 86' |
7 - 0 Agg. |
It was more of a party in Larnaca, as AEK Larnaca hosted Sturm Graz at the Giorgos Karapatakis AEK Arena. AEK held a 2:0 advantage from last week in Austria and left absolutely nothing to chance in this one. Apostolos Giannou nearly scored within the first 5 minutes of the match, but he was denied in tight by the Sturm keeper Tobias Schutzenauer. Then Giannou sent a through ball for Ivan Trickovski, who dribbled around Schutzenauer and with a sliding finish put the hosts ahead on eight minutes.
Thomas Schrammel appeared to have equalized quickly, but the goal was called back on an offside flag, to the relief of the hosts. Giannou then led another rush and passed the ball off to Tete, but the shot hit the side of the net, marking the final chance of the half as AEK’s advantage remained at 1:0.
The visitors tried again for an equalizer, but Markus Pink’s strike was stopped by Tono Ramirez. Minutes later, Sandi Lovric fouled Acoran from behind and was charged with his second yellow card and was sent off, leaving the visitors with 10-men. Raphael Obermair did manage to get a good chance off, but Ramirez made the save, and the floodgates opened up for the hosts.
Giannou dribbled through the box at high speed and Schutzenauer mistakenly tripped him, missing the ball completely. A penalty was awarded and Jorge Larena converted to give AEK a 2:0 lead in the 65th minute.
Just two minutes later, an aerial through ball found Trickovski who brought down the ball brilliantly and fired home for his second of the match to make it 3:0 to the hosts. Jean-Luc then found Trickovski inside the penalty area and the AEK striker made no mistake to complete the hat-trick in the 80th minute. To add insult to injury, another long ball was fantastically volleyed past Schutzenauer by Florian Taulemesse in the 85th minute, for a final score of 5:0 for AEK, and 7:0 on aggregate.
AEK will travel to Slovakia to face Trencin in the first leg of the UEFA Europa League playoffs on Thursday, August 23rd, with the second game scheduled for Thursday, August 30th, at the AEK Arena in Larnaka.
The APOEL - Hapoel Beer Sheva match report can be found here.
