Omonoia nightmare continues with heartbreaking loss to AEL
CYPRIOT 1st DIV.: CHAMPIONSHIP PLAYOFFS (MATCHDAY 7)
| Omonia | 1 - 2 | AEL Limassol |
|---|---|---|
| Derbyshire 18' |
Roman 87' Lafrance 90'+6' |
Omonoia had their best chance to break their long losing streak and seemed well on their way to doing so, but more pain came in the form of heartbreak as Omonoia took a 2:1 loss at home to AEL Limassol.
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Omonoia hosted AEL at the GSP Stadium in Nicosia, knowing it was their best chance to turn the tide of what has been a disastrous playoff run. The visitors started strong as Ismael Sassi fed Andreas Avraam into space, but he hit the woodwork and it stayed out. The hosts answered, as a cross from Kanu was blocked by a defender and came right back to him, and he found Matt Derbyshire who had a lot of net to shoot at and made no mistake, calmly heading the ball into the net past AEL keeper Vozinha 18 minutes in. About 20 minutes later, Derbyshire was feeling confident and attempted to catch Vozinha out from midfield, but Vozinha was just able to backtrack fast enough to make the save. AEL had one more chance before the half, but an attempt from Marco Soares was saved with ease by Nikolay Mihaylov and Omonoia led 1:0 at halftime.
In the second half, Derbyshire continued to buzz around the AEL net, but an early shot from him came screaming off the post. In the 68th minute, an innocent shot from Marco Airosa was seen all the way by Mihaylov. It seemed as though Omonoia would hang on, but in the 86th minute, a low shot from Joan Roman eluded Mihaylov and served as the equalizer for the visitors. In the final minute of stoppage time, Kanu was charged with a second yellow card and was sent off. On the final play of the match, AEL came on a rush, and with the Omonoia defense flailing around the box, the ball reached Marios Elia on the goal line. Elia’s low pass somehow got past Mihaylov and was rammed into the net by Kevin Lafrance. The final whistle blew immediately, and AEL earned the 2:1 win, a heartbreaker for Omonoia.
AEL remain in 5th even with the win. Omonoia remain in the same distant 6th they’ve been in for a while, and their losing streak now reaches 10 games!
