Omonoia defeat Doxa, Stalemate at the Dasaki
 

CYPRIOT FIRST DIVISION - MATCHDAY 12

Omonoia kept the pressure on Anorthosis with a 2-0 win at home to Doxa Katokopias. Meanwhile, Ethnikos Achnas and Enosis Neon Paralimni played to a 2-2 draw.

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Omonoia hosted Doxa Katokopias at the GSP Stadium in Nicosia. Omonoia brought the pressure early, and it seemed to only be a matter of time before they struck. Finally, in the 19th minute, they paid it off when Eric Bautheac unleashed a stunning free kick that Armin Gremsl had little chance of stopping into the top corner of the net.

Three minutes later, Omonoia struck again when Thiago found Michael Ortega, and Ortega snuck a shot through a maze of purple shirts and past Gremsl, making it 2-0 for Omonoia.

Doxa tried to make something happen to get back in the match, Vasilis Papafotis did very well to dribble through the Omonoia defense, but Fabiano bailed them out with a big save. Ortega set up a chance for Jordi Gomez at the other end, but Gremsl kept it out. Nonetheless, Omonoia were happy to be leading 2-0 at halftime.

Omonoia were a little loose in the second half, and Papafotis came bursting in on goal, laid off for Ze Valente who fed it back to Papafotis, and Fabiano might a highlight-reel save getting his left arm on it and knocking it aside. Fabiano came up large again when Vladimir Boljevic set up a header for Stefanos Mouhtaris. Bear in mind that he was signed after the season started with injuries to Francis Uzoho and Konstantinos Panagi, but the 31 year old Brazilian was the star of the second half, and he earned his clean sheet, and shut the door to preserve Omonoia’s 2-0 win over Doxa Katokopias. Omonoia remain in second place, and they remain two points behind leaders Anorthosis. Doxa are in 12th and last place, six points shy of the safety of 10th place, currently held by Ethnikos Achnas.

Speaking of Ethnikos Achnas, they hosted Enosis Neon Paralimni in the Monday game at the Dasaki tis Achnas, in the village of Achnas in southeastern Cyprus. Enosis struck first in the 18th minute, as Dimitris Theodorou received a pass in midfield and dribbled through the Ethnikos defense and capped it off by dribbling around Martin Bogatinov and finishing the play. The young Theodorou has gone from relative obscurity to a Cypriot international this season, and his rise continues with that goal.

Ethnikos looked to respond, as Vincent Laban found Miguelito for a header, but Boris Klaiman made what ended up being a routine save. Enosis carried their 1-0 lead into halftime.

In the second half, Ethnikos found the equalizer they were looking for. Giorgos Papageorgiou crossed in for Jovan Kostovski and he beat Klaiman with a header, making it 1-1 in the 53rd minute.

Ethnikos started to feel their confidence rise, and Marios Ilia had a pair of chances, but both times he was thwarted by Klaiman. Klaiman then sprawled out to stop a dangerous free kick off the boot of Laban, despite a host of bodies impeding his vision.

Against the run of play, Enosis went back on top in the 84th minute as a long sequence culminated with Nico Varela beating the Ethnikos backup goalkeeper Kyriakos Stratiliatis who had replaced Bogatinov earlier. However, that would not be the final word, as Illya Markovskyy rescued his side with a goal in the final minute of regulation time.

Would there be one final plot twist? There almost was, as Varela had a point blank opportunity to win it for Enosis with just seconds to play, but Stratiliatis came up with a heroic save, and the match ended in a 2-2 draw. As we mentioned earlier, Ethnikos are in 10th place, five points clear of Enosis who are in 11th place, and the drop zone.

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