APOEL grab morale-boosting win over Sevilla in Nicosia
UEFA EUROPA LEAGUE - GROUP A (MATCHDAY 6)
APOEL, who booked their ticket to the UEFA Europa League knockout stages on matchday five, claimed a morale-boosting 1:0 victory over Sevilla in their final group stage fixture.
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APOEL finished the group stages of the Europa League in style by beating Sevilla 1:0 at the GSP Stadium in Nicosia. Although both teams had locked their presence in the next stage of the competition, APOEL played well against a superior side, and it was a 61st-minute header from Vujadin Savic that gave the Cypriot champions an important win.
Despite starting their group stage campaign with two losses, APOEL finished in second place with 10 points while Sevilla claimed first place with 15 points, dropping their first points in the group on Thursday evening. Qarabaq finished in third with five points after playing to a 1:1 draw with bottom of the table Dudelange.
THE MATCH
Loukas Hadjiloukas coached APOEL for the first time after Thomas Doll's sacking, setting up the team with clear intentions to keep the dangerous Sevilla at bay. In the 27th minute, Musa Al-Taamari, with a solo effort, forced Yassine Bounou to a save. Moments later on the other side of the pitch, it was Lucas Ocampos, who got denied by Vid Belec. The play continued, and Ocampos managed to score, however, his goal was called back for offsides. With good defending and coverage, APOEL managed to keep Sevilla back and kept the game goalless at half-time.
In the 56th minute, it seemed like Sevilla found a way to unlock APOEL's defense as Alef dos Santos was penalized for a foul on Ocampos inside the penalty area. However, the visitors were denied by Vid Belec, who guessed correctly and stopped Munas Dabbur's penalty kick.
Five minutes later and it was Sevilla's gathering the ball out of their net. Uros Matic, with another one of his excellent corner kicks, found Vujadin Savic in the heart of the Spaniard's defense and with a powerful header, opened the scoring. The lead gave APOEL a significant confidence boost as they played their game and looked for more goals.
In the 86th minute, Al-Taamari almost doubled his team's lead, but Bounou came up big to deny his shot. Four minutes later, Ocampos had a dangerous header from close range, but he was unable to find the target under pressure from Nikolas Ioannou.
APOEL held on to hand Sevilla their first defeat in Europe this season, a result that will surely give the Cypriot champions a big psychological boost.
LINEUPS
APOEL (Loukas Hadjiloukas): Vid Belec (GK), Nikolas Ioannou ©, Giorgos Merkis, Vujadin Savic, Luka Mihajlovic, Alef dos Santos, Lucas Souza, Uros Matic, Musa Al-Taamari (Giorgos Efraim), Antonio Jakolis (Andreas Makris), Andrija Pavlovic (Tomas De Vincenti)
Sevilla (Julen Lopetegui): Yassine Bounou (GK), Alejandro Pozo, Genaro, Sergi Gomez, Sergio Escudero ©, Joan Jorda (Oliver Torres), Nemanja Gudelj, Rony Lopes, Lucas Ocampos, Bryan Gil (Jose Mena), Javier Hernandez (Munas Dabbur)
HIGHLIGHTS
