Goalless Eternal Derby favors Omonoia 

CYPRIOT 1st DIVISION - MATCHDAY 22

Omonoia caught Anorthosis atop the Cypriot First Division table after a goalless draw with bitter rivals APOEL on Monday evening.

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APOEL were much better in the first half, however, they failed to turn their superiority into goals. Omonoia improved in the second half and looked to strike on the counter, but neither team could edge the other with the game ending in a goalless draw. 

As a result, Omonoia will start the playoff group in first place alongside Anorthosis, while APOEL are third, four points behind the leading duo.

THE MATCH 

The regular season of the 2019-2020 Cypriot First Division wrapped up at the GSP Stadium in Nicosia between the Eternal Enemies APOEL and Omonoia. After Anorthosis’ loss to AEK on Sunday, Omonoia needed just a point to move into first place with the Famagusta side, while APOEL looked for valuable points to close in on top spot. 

APOEL came into the match as the hosts and looked for an early goal. Before the ten minute mark, Costel Pantilimon was tested on three occasions. APOEL kept up their pressure, and in the 26th minute, Pantilimon had to show his class to deny efforts from Tomas De Vincenti and Giorgos Efraim, in a great double chance for APOEL. Two minutes later, Adam Lang stopped a shot from Alef Dos Santos as APOEL shouted for a handball, however, the referee dismissed it. The video replay was not clear if there was an offense. 

Omonoia improved towards the end of the half and, in the 43rd minute, almost punished APOEL for their missed chances. David Akintola sent a cross that was poorly cleaned by Mike Jensen to set up Matt Derbyshire, who, from point-blank, was denied by Vid Belec.

The second half did not start as strong as the first. Once again, though, APOEL seemed to have the upper hand, but Omonoia had a much stronger start to this half compared to the first half. There was more controversy in the 57th minute as another possible handball by Lang was dismissed by the referee. 

Two minutes later, Thiago Santos tested Belec with a goalwards corner kick, but the APOEL keeper was up to the task. In the 74th minute, Thiago was once again denied by Belec. 

As time passed, Omonoia gained more ground. Vitor Gomes’ rocket in the 78th minute forced Belec to another save before Belec cleared Thiago’s free-kick six minutes later. 

Nothing changed until the end, despite both teams’ efforts to go forward and like the first round, the second eternal derby of the season ended without goals.

STARTING LINEUPS

APOEL (Marinos Ouzounidis): Vid Belec (GK), Dragan Mihajlovic (Stathis Aloneftis), Praxitelis Vouros, Nikolas Ioannou (C), Vujadin Savic, Giorgos Merkis, Mike Jensen, Alef Dos Santos, Tomas De Vincenti (Andrija Pavlovic), Musa Al-Taamari, Giorgos Efraim (Milan Jevtovic)

Omonoia (Henning Berg): Costel Pantilimon(GK), Adam Lang, Michael Luftner, Jan Lecjaks, Charis Mavrias, Ioannis Kousoulos, Jordi Gomez (Vitor Gomes), Thiago Santos, David Akintola, Eric Bautheac, Matt Derbyshire (C) (Andronikos Kakoullis) 

HIGHLIGHTS

Image Source: SportFM Cyprus

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