AEK Larnaca earn critical win over AEL Limassol 

CYPRIOT 1st DIVISION - MATCHDAY 17

AEK Larnaca earned a desperately needed win for their playoff hopes as they defeated AEL Limassol 3-1 at the Giorgos Karapatakis Stadium in Larnaca. 

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Ivan Trickovski struck twice, both times from the spot, and Acoran added the fatal blow in the 77th minute. Ruben Jurado, who temporarily equalized in the 40th minute, had the lone goal for AEL. 

AEK leapfrog AEL as well as Nea Salamina into fifth place, a position where they want to be, while AEL fall out of the top six with this loss into seventh place.

THE MATCH

The two sides were feeling each other out in the early minutes of the match, but it turned quickly with a loose ball in the box. The AEL keeper, Vozinha, tried to dive on top of the ball, but instead only brought down Thomas Ioannou, and referee Loukas Sotiriou pointed to the spot for a penalty. Vozinha guessed right, but Ivan Trickovski still converted the penalty to give AEK the 1-0 lead in the 15th minute.

After several offside flags, AEL responded in the 40th minute thanks to a corner, which was played low and found Ruben Jurado, who beat Tono Ramirez for the equalizer. The 1-1 scoreline remained at the break. 

However, AEK regained the lead right back early in the second half, with another penalty. This time Charis Kyriakou brought down Simranjit Thandi in the box. At first glance, it seemed as though Thandi went down easily, with Kyriakou’s arm only making light contact, but a closer look appears to show Kyriakou also kicking out the back of Thandi’s legs. At any rate, another penalty was awarded, and Trickovski shot it right down the middle as Vozinha dove to his left. That made it 2-1 for AEK in the 52nd minute.

In the 76th minute came the kill shot as Acoran let fly from well outside the box, Vozinha dove a little too early and the ball bounced over his fallen body and into the net. That made it 3-1 in favor of AEK Larnaca, and that was the final score over AEL Limassol. 

LINEUPS

AEK Larnaca(Santiago Carpintero): 25. Tono Ramirez(GK), 2. Simranjit Thandi, 4. Truyols, 10. Ivan Trickovski(Captain)(‘66 8. Acoran), 11. Tete(‘87 31. Konstantinos Konstantinou), 13. Hector Hevel, 14. Ivan Fiolic(‘46 6. Abraham Gonzalez), 18. Mikel Gonzalez, 19. Thomas Ioannou, 21. Carles Planas, 22. Lluis Sastre

AEL Limassol(Dusan Kerkez): 1. Vozinha(GK), 4. Andre Teixeira, 5. Jon Gaztanaga(‘76 16. Manuel Torres), 6. Slobodan Medojevic, 7. Andreas Avraam, 14. Ryan Mmaee, 19. Adnan Aganovic, 21. Boris Godal(‘57 27. Momcilo Raso), 22. Ruben Jurado, 40. Charis Kyriakou(‘78 44 Nils Teixeira), 42. Christos Wheeler

HIGHLIGHTS

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