AEK and AEL record wins over Apollon and Salamina
CYPRIOT 1st DIV: CHAMPIONSHIP PLAYOFFS
| Date | Home Team | Score | Away Team |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30-Mar-19 | AEK Larnaca | 2 - 1 | Apollon Limassol |
| 30-Mar-19 | Nea Salamina | 0 - 2 | AEL Limassol |
AEK Larnaca prevailed 2:1 at home over Apollon Limassol, while AEL grabbed a 2:0 win on the road against Nea Salamina.
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First stop was the fixture at the Georgios Karapatakis AEK Arena in Larnaca, as AEK found the win with two goals from Ivan Trickovski, one in each half, while Apollon skipper Fotis Papoulis temporarily equalised with a penalty in the first half.
The home side started the game with the guns blazing and cornered Apollon in their penalty area in the early stages. The pressure brought results and after a corner from Jeffren Suarez, Trickovski had the touch that sent the ball into Bruno Vale’s net for the opening goal in the sixth minute. Seven minutes later, AEK missed a great chance to double their lead. First Vale brilliantly stopped a face to face encounter with Trickovski, then Sasa Markovic blocked Apostolos Giannou’s shot from point blank range, and then with his head, stopped Hector Hevel’s effort.
Despite AEK’s dominance, Apollon found the way to equalize as Joao Pedro was brought down by Marios Antoniades and a penalty was awarded. Papoulis beat Tono Ramirez and made the score 1:1 in the 29th minute. Apollon touched the turnaround six minutes later when a beautiful passing game between Adrian Sardinero and Emilio Zelaya reached Andre Schembri, but his shot went wide. The two teams headed into halftime with an even scoreline.
Both teams started strong in the second half and Vale had to come up big to deny Trickovski a goal in the 48th minute. Shortly after on the other side of the pitch, Papoulis forced Tono to a big save sending the ball to a corner kick. AEK improved and managed to get the lead back in the 73rd minute. Jeffren sent the ball, Vale failed to take control of it and served it to Trickovski who doubled his goals. Apollon pushed for an equalizer in the final minutes, however the hosts held on to celebrate a big win.
AEK recorded an important win in the battle to capture third place from AEL, while Apollon missed a chance to return to top spot after APOEL’s draw against Omonoia.
LINEUPS
AEK: Tono Ramirez (GK), Marios Antoniades (Acoran Reyes), Daniel Mojsov, David Catala, Jorge Larena, Hector Hevel (Florian Taulemesse), Mikel Gonzalez, Luis Sastre, Jeffren Suarez, Ivan Trickovski (Joan Truyols), Apostolos Giannou
Apollon: Bruno Vale (GK), Valentin Roberge, Hector Yuste, Giorgos Vasileiou (Petros Psyxas), Dylan Ouedraogo, Sasa Markovic, Facundo Pereyra (Andre Schembri), Joao Pedro, Fotis Papoulis, Adrian Sardinero, Emilio Zelaya,
Salamina hosted AEL at the Ammochostos Stadium in Larnaca as two second half goals from super-sub Ruben Jurado saw AEL return to Limassol with the three points.
AEL started strong and just four minutes into the game, Ion Gaztanaga forced Robert Veselovsky to a big save. Despite AEL’s energy in the beginning, the pace retreated from both sides leading to a goalless first half with not much to report.
AEL came into the second half determined to find the goal and get the win. Dossa Junior sent a warning shot in the 55th minute as his effort from point blank was blocked by Roman Golobart before the goal line. Twelve minutes later, AEL found the breakthrough with Jurado’s shot inside Salamina’s penalty area that was deflected and managed to beat Veselovsky.
In the 73rd minute, Ivan Schranz had a shot which went wide, however Golobart’s late tackle brought a penalty. Jurado beat Veselovsky once again to double his team’s lead. AEL controlled the rest of the game and flirted with a third goal during stoppage time, however efforts from Andreas Avraam and Kevin Lafrance were stopped by Veselovsky and a blocked shot from the boot of Ioannis Kosti.
With this win, AEL hold onto third place and kept two points clear of AEK. Salamina saw Omonoia draw level with them on points and they fall to sixth place.
LINEUPS
Salamina: Robert Veselovsky (GK), Roman Golobart, Ivan Fustar, Kypros Christoforou, Konstantinos Mintikkis, Renato Margaca, Kingsley Onuegbu, Thiago Santos, Farshad Noor (Ioannis Kosti), Anderson Correia, Charles Eloundou (Daniel Sikorski, Jailson Araujo)
AEL: Vozinha (GK), Dossa Junior, Kevin Lafrance, Andre Teixeira, Ion Gaztanaga, Andreas Avraam, Alex Da Silva (Nestoras Mytides), Andreas Makris (Ruben Jurado), Nils Teixeira, Ivan Schranz (Fidelis Irhene), Marko Adamovic
