Cyprus ease to victory in San Marino
UEFA EURO 2020 QUALIFYING - GROUP I (MATCHDAY 6)
Cyprus have gained a morale-boosting victory in UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying, breezing past San Marino 4-0 on the road.
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Cyprus traveled to San Marino to face their national team for the Euro 2020 qualifiers at the Stadio Olimpico di Serravalle. Ran Ben Shimon made four changes in comparison with the game against Kazakhstan (1-1), with Ioannis Kosti, Matija Spoljaric, Kostakis Artymatas and Ioannis Pittas entering the lineup. Pieros Sotiriou wore the captain’s armband for the first time.
The Cypriots proved their superiority with a good performance and four goals in their biggest ever away win. Ioannis Kousoulos and Fotis Papoulis registered goals in the first half, before Kousoulos (again) and Kostakis Artymatas scored in the second to secure the 4:0 win.
Cyprus are now sharing third place with Kazakhstan in Group I. Both teams are a point over Scotland, but eleven and eight behind Belgium and Russia respectively.
THE MATCH
Cyprus could not have asked for a better start. Kousoulos opened the scoring within two minutes, hitting the jackpot after a corner kick was taken..
The visitors gained control of the game and kept pressing for more goals. In the 23rd minute, a cross from Kostis found Sotiriou, but Simone Benedettini denied him the goal.
Cyprus found the second goal of the game seven minutes before half time. Sotiriou received the ball after a corner and set it for Fotis Papoulis, who beat the goalkeeper with a strong effort.
The early stages of the second half did not produce much, with Cyprus having the upper hand. In the 71st minute skipper Sotiriou found the back of the net with a header, but it was correctly ruled out for offside. However, Kousoulos did extend the lead to three just moments later, turning home the rebound after a free kick had smashed the crossbar.
Artymatas then headed a corner from Anthony Georgiou past the goalkeeper to complete the scoring.
LINEUPS
San Marino(Franco Varella): Simone Benedettini(GK), Fabio Vitaioli, Alessandro D’Addario, Lorenzo Lunadei, Davide Simoncini(C), Matteo Vitaioli (Michele Cevoli), Alex Gasperoni (Jose Hirsch), Andrea Grandoni, Alessandro Golinucci, Filippo Berardi, Fabio Tomassini (Nicola Nanni)
Cyprus(Ran Ben Shimon): Konstantinos Panagi(GK), Nikolas Ioannou, Chambos Kyriakou, Pieros Sotiriou(C), Ioannis Kousoulos, Fotis Papoulis (Anthony Georgiou), Matija Spoljaric (Michalis Ioannou), Ioannis Kosti, Kostakis Artymatas, Kostas Laifis, Ioannis Pittas (Grigoris Kastanos)
HIGHLIGHTS
