Omonoia begin playoffs with statement win
 

CYPRIOT FIRST DIVISION - CHAMPIONSHIP GROUP (MATCHDAY 1)

Omonoia thrashed AEL Limassol 3-0 on the road in their opening match in the Cypriot First Division Championship playoffs.

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Omonoia ended the regular season atop the standings and made their intent clear with a 3-0 away win over AEL Limassol at the Tsirion Stadio in Limassol in their playoff opener. 

Eighteen-year-old Andronikos Kakkoulis opened the scoring for Omonoia, and in the second half, Vitor Gomes and Matt Derbyshire tacked on two more goals to give the Nicosia side an emphatic 3-0. 

For the moment, Omonoia are now alone in first place, three points ahead of Anorthosis. AEL remain in sixth place with the loss.

THE MATCH

The two sides both started a bit tentatively, but Omonoia struck paydirt in the 23rd minute. A simple midfield header by Miku sent Babajide David Akintola down the wing. Akintola fed Andronikos Kakkoulis, who beat Vozinha with a stellar sliding finish. The teenager gave Omonoia the start they needed, making it 1-0.

AEL tried to respond quickly, Andreas Avraam let fly from outside the box, and Costel Pantilimon had to be alert to make the save. The Romanian keeper came up large again on a bullet from Andrija Majdevac. Pantilimon, at full extension, got just enough of a touch on the powerful strike to redirect it off the bar. Thanks to that save, Omonoia remained ahead at halftime, 1-0.

Omonoia opened the second half with a renewed focus, and they doubled their advantage seven minutes in when Vitor Gomes uncorked a strike that beat Vozinha low to the bottom corner. Omonoia were now ahead by a 2-0 margin.

AEL made a flurry of substitutions to try to stem the tide, but Omonoia continued to carry the play. Kakkoulis forced a nice save from Vozinha in his bid for a second goal. AEL did earn a corner, but Manuel Torres couldn’t get his shot through the maze of bodies to Pantilimon. Then Ryan Mmaee seemed to have space and time, but in the end, skied the ball over the net.

Omonoia, instead, dealt the final blow. Thiago drew a foul in the box for a penalty. Matt Derbyshire stepped up to take it, and hit the net down the middle, correctly predicting that Vozinha would dive either to his left or right. Omonoia hung on for the 3-0 away victory over AEL in Limassol.

LINEUPS

AEL Limassol(Dusan Kerkez): 1. Vozinha(GK), 27. Momcilo Raso, 4. Andre Teixeira, 40. Charis Kyriakou, 6. Slobodan Medojevic, 19. Adnan Aganovic, 8. Davor Zdravkovski(‘56 11. Marko Adamovic), 7. Andreas Avraam(‘56 10. Gevorg Ghazaryan), 14. Ryan Mmaee, 50. Andrija Majdevac, 12. Minas Antoniou(‘64 16. Manuel Torres)

Omonoia(Henning Berg): 29. Costel Pantilimon(GK), 6. Michael Luftner, 7. Miku, 8. Vitor Gomes, 10. Babajide David Akintola, 15. Tomas Hubocan(‘70 31. Ioannis Kousoulos), 16. Jordi Gomez, 17. Jan Lecjaks, 22. Adam Lang, 70. Thiago, 80. Andronikos Kakkoulis(‘80 27. Matt Derbyshire)

HIGHLIGHTS

by Andreas Mantzas

Image Source: SportFM Cyprus

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