Apollon return to winning ways
 

CYPRIOT 1st DIVISION - MATCHDAY 5

Apollon returned to winning ways with a 3-1 victory over Olympiakos in Sunday’s sole Cypriot First Division fixture.

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It’s been a difficult start to the season for Apollon as they missed out on the Europa League Group Stages, then firing Sofronis Avgoustis, only to bring him back a month later. Igor Vukomanovic failed to improve the team’s performances, in fact making things even worse, and the administration corrected their mistake by bringing back the Cypriot coach.

Sofronis Avgoustis made simple changes against Olympiakos at the Tsireio Stadium in Limassol and his players rewarded him with a good performance and a 3:1 win against a tough side. Giannis Gianniotas had a big game scoring two goals, while Emilio Zelaya formed the final scoreline after an Olympiakos goal from Jonathan Ayite.

The result gives Apollon a boost, but they still only have seven points from four games. On the other hand, Olympiakos retreated to the bottom of the table with just two points.

THE GAME

Apollon showed their willingness to make their mark on the game early on. In the 14th minute, Diego Aguirre’s personal effort cleared the visitors’ right wing and he gave a perfect assist to Gianniotas around the penalty spot with the Greek winger beating Pavol Bajza for the lead.

Five minutes later, Aguirre repeated his previous move, but this time Fotis Papoulis saw his finish go over the crossbar. Olympiakos touched the equaliser in the 21st minute when Sambinha received the ball in a perfect position from a free-kick, but Joel Mall answered with a big save. The visitors kept pressing and in the 30th minute, Bilal Hamdi found himself face to face with Mall, but his finish went wide out.

A minute later, Apollon answered with a chance of their own as Serge Gakpe sent a rocket from the right side that shook Bajza’s crossbar and stayed out. Before half-time, Olympiakos missed another chance with Panagiotis Zachariou, who saw his shot blocked by the defense.

Apollon could not have asked for a better start to the second half. Just a minute after the restart, Gianniotas controlled the ball at the edge of the penalty area and released a shot Bajza could not stop and the Greek player doubled the hosts’ lead in style.

However, Olympiakos answered back soon after as Kiko sent in a low free kick that was turned into Mall’s net by Ayite.

Apollon pressed for an insurance goal to secure their win and Papoulis came close in the 63rd minute with a point-blank backheel effort that was stopped by Bajza.

Zelaya, however, was the one that found the precious third goal in the 73rd when the Argentinian took the ball inside the penalty area and with a beautiful effort tripled Apollon’s goals and secured victory.

HIGHLIGHTS

by Marios Antoniou

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