Anorthosis lose, APOEL fail to capitalize
 

Leaders Anorthosis were handed a  2-1 upset loss away to Olympiakos Nicosia, while APOEL had some troubles of their own with a 1-0 loss away to AEK Larnaca.

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Olympiakos Nicosia hosted Anorthosis at the Makario Stadio in Nicosia. The hosts surprisingly had the jump early on. Vinicius forced a difficult save from Giorgos Papadopoulos. 

Olympiakos continued to carry the play throughout the first half, and a fortuitous bounce got them what they were looking for. 

Papadopoulos punched a cross by Fabrice Kah, and it caromed off the head of Gordon Schildenfeld for an own goal, charged to Schildenfeld, and in the 41st minute, Olympiakos had a 1-0 lead, which they took into halftime.

Anorthosis were more ready to go in the second half. Michalis Ioannou let fly, and similar to the early chance for Vinicius, it forced Markos Vellidis to make a tough save, but like Papadopoulos, he was up to the challenge. At the other end, Kah snuck a shot through traffic, but somehow Papadopoulos was able to find it and make the save. 

Anorthosis continued to carry the play for most of the second half, but against the run of play, they got a vital insurance goal. Kiko crossed and through a tight window found Paris Psaltis, who redirected it past Papadopoulos, 2-0 for Olympiakos in the 89th minute.

That late goal proved necessary. In the first minute of stoppage time, Branko Vrgoc played a long ball that found Nika Kacharava, who laid off for Michal Duris. Duris fired a shot that Vellidis got a piece of, but ultimately couldn’t keep out, and just like that, Anorthosis were back within one, with about three minutes to play.

Anorthosis drew a foul that earned them a free-kick, and a real chance to level the match and steal a point. Ruben Rayos took it and was able to get it around the wall, but Vellidis was right there to make a routine save, and Olympiakos pulled the 2-1 upset win at home to Anorthosis. Anorthosis remain in first place, but they are only two points ahead of Omonoia, who now have a game in hand. Olympiakos improve to eighth place with the win as well.

So could APOEL take advantage? The seven-time defending champions have struggled in their quest for eight straight Cypriot championships and entered play, five points behind Anorthosis, and three behind archrivals Omonoia. AEK Larnaca hosted APOEL at the Giorgos Karaparakis AEK Arena in Larnaca. The gameplay was even early on, Truyols had a chance in tight that was stopped by Vid Belec. 

A missed called benefitted APOEL when a wayward cross that Christos Wheeler should have had all day to clear handcuffed him. Wheeler slipped and the ball struck his outstretched arm, but it wasn’t seen, and no penalty was given. 

Nonetheless, it was just a temporary reprieve. Ivan Trickovski had a shot from distance that hit the inside of the post, but Hector Hevel was right there to ram it past Belec. AEK pulled ahead 1-0 in the 31st minute as a result. 

Andrija Pavlovic tried to respond but slipped as he shot it, and it sailed way over the bar. Acoran had a go, but Belec made the save, and AEK took their 1-0 lead into halftime.

APOEL looked for an equalizer in the second half. Tomas De Vincenti unleashed a free-kick that didn’t connect with anybody until it harmlessly dribbled in on Tono Ramirez, who gathered it without issue. Then APOEL wanted a penalty when Andre Vidigal had a shot go off the elbow of Roman Golobart. However, his arm was tucked in properly, and so no call was made. Uros Matic tried to sneak a shot through a maze of bodies, but it was blocked in front by Lluis Sastre. 

AEK hung on for a 1-0 win at home to APOEL. APOEL blew a golden opportunity to make up ground, and so they remain in third place, six points adrift of Anorthosis. It was a big win for AEK, they jump back into the top six needed to get into the playoffs, they are now in fifth place.

Image Source: SportFM Cyprus

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