Upsets continue in Cyprus
 

CYPRIOT FIRST DIVISION - MATCHDAY 19

The upsets continued over the weekend in Cyprus as Omonoia were handed a surprising 2:1 loss at home to Ethnikos Achnas. Apollon also lost at home in a shocking 1:0 scoreline to Enosis Neon Paralimni. Meanwhile, Pafos FC won 2:0 at home to AEL Limassol, and on Monday, Doxa Katokopias recorded their second win of the season with a 1:0 result at Nea Salamina. 

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Omonoia hosted Ethnikos Achnas at the GSP Stadium in Nicosia. With Anorthosis and APOEL having lost on Saturday, Omonoia had the chance to take over the league lead with a win. Omonoia controlled the early play, and a good chance fell to Matt Derbyshire, but Martin Bogatinov kicked it aside. Jan Lecjaks fed Derbyshire, but by the time he connected with the pass, Bogatinov left him nothing to shoot at. The match remained scoreless at halftime. 

Omonoia continued to dictate the play, Eric Bautheac got clipped in the box and wanted a penalty, but on replay, it showed the Ethnikos defender got the ball first, so correctly nothing was given. 

Out of nowhere, and against the run of play, it was Ethnikos that broke through. In the 59th minute, Miguelito crossed for Christoforos Christofi, who had a shot blocked by Thiago, but they couldn’t clear, and the ball came back to Christofi, and this time the ball curved, hit off the inside of the post and in, past a very confused Costel Pantilimon. Pantilimon clearly assumed the ball was going either over the net or wide, and therefore made no attempt to save it. Even had he reacted, it would have been a very difficult save to make. At any rate, Ethnikos were ahead 1-0.

Omonoia kept at it, and an errant handball was their ticket back to level terms. A cross by Bautheac struck the arm of Pavlos Correa, and a penalty was given. Derbyshire stepped up to take it, Bogatinov dove the right way, but it was a well-taken penalty, and in the 74th minute, the score was now 1-1.

However, it didn’t take long for Ethnikos to pull back ahead. Just two minutes later, Illya Markovskyy had the ball in a stationary position, Vitor Gomes went in for the steal, and made some contact. Markovskyy sold it for all it was worth, and a penalty was given. Markovskyy was allowed to try to finish his own play, and he converted the penalty. Pantilimon froze, possibly in case Markovskyy was to try shooting down the middle, but instead, the Romanian keeper watched it slide past his motionless body to the left. Pantilimon failed to react again, and Ethnikos were back ahead 2-1.

Miku took a shot from distance that Bogatinov made a strong save on, and then Michael Luftner sent a header wide. Miguelito looked to finish it off, but his shot was right at Pantilimon. Luftner tried another shot that was blocked in front. He got to the rebound and tried to dribble, then attempted to draw a penalty that wasn’t given, likely correctly. Ethnikos claimed their 2-1 win away to Omonoia, and they remain in 11th place, only one point away from the safe zone. Omonoia remain in second place, two points behind Anorthosis, an opportunity lost.

Apollon hosted Enosis Neon Paralimni at the Tsirion Stadio in Limassol. It was a very physical match in the early going, but few scoring chances were created in the opening minutes. Finally, Enosis created one, and Joel Mall got an arm on a powerful strike off the boot of Nico Varela. Fotis Papoulis had a go but missed the target wide. Joao Pedro found Papoulis in space, and Papoulis had an empty net to shoot at. However, to his horror, the Apollon Captain couldn’t get a clean touch on the ball, and the ball skittered wide. On that note, the first half ended with no score.

Apollon had a corner early in the second half, and once again, it fell for them, this time for Emilio Nsue, but just like Papoulis in the first half, his touch failed him, and he couldn’t hit the gaping net. Diego Aguirre had a go, but Boris Klaiman made the save. 

Against the run of play, it was Enosis that got the payoff. In the 72nd minute, Varela used his speed to create some space for himself, and then placed a strike inside the far post to beat Mall, and Enosis now had their own upset brewing.

Apollon started to press for an equalizer. One cross found Facundo Pereyra alone with Klaiman, and Pereyra was able to rise above Klaiman and got his head on the ball, but luckily for Enosis, the header sailed over the bar. Apollon had one last chance in stoppage time, but Klaiman made one more save on a close-range opportunity for Charlison Benschop, and Enosis marched into Limassol and stole a 1-0 away win over Apollon. Enosis stay in the safe zone at 10th place, the win keeps them there despite the aforementioned win for Ethnikos. Apollon remain in fourth place, the top four teams having all lost this weekend.

In Pafos, the local side hosted AEL, who were coming off a big win over Apollon the week before at the Stelios Kyriakides Stadium. An open game saw both teams looking to find ways towards each other’s posts. In the 22nd minute, Zdenek Folprecht’s rocket from outside AEL’s penalty area forced Vozinha to a big save. Ten minutes later, it was Denis Rakels’ turn to be denied by Vozinha, who quickly rushed to stop his effort. Pafos took over the game and kept pressing, and Onni Valakari saw two of his shots get blocked by AEL’s defenders. 

The hosts finally managed to find the back of the net before halftime. Andreas Panagiotou had the run from the right and passed it to Rakels, who beat Vozinha and sent Pafos with the lead into the locker rooms. 

AEL had an effort just eight minutes into the second half with Marko Adamovic, however, his shot went wide of Artur Rudko’s right post. Pafos almost doubled their lead in the 67th minute with Mickael Panos seeing the ball hit the woodwork after a good effort by Vladimiro Felix “Va.” Pafos secured victory in the 75th minute, however. Kevin Berigaud, from the right, sent the ball and Rakels’ backheel set it up nicely for Va, who powered home a strike for the 2-0 lead. 

Berigaud almost scored a third goal for the home side, when he saw Vozinha away from his posts. He had the effort from the midfield, but it went just wide. AEL tried to get back into the game with Andrija Majdevac’s close effort denied by Rudko in the 87th minute. Pafos held on and are now in ninth place, three points clear of 11th placed Ethnikos Achnas. AEL retreated to sixth place, two points behind AEK. 

In the Monday game to wrap up the matchday, Salamina hosted last-placed Doxa having the chance to jump into sixth after AEL’s loss. It was another open game with both teams looking for the early goal but failed to create any big opportunities. In the 29th minute, after a corner kick for Salamina, Jay Simpson took the effort from the right side, with the ball passing inches by Thierry Graca’s left post. Five minutes later, it was Doxa’s turn as Italo de Carvalho unleashed a long shot, forcing Tassos Kissas to a big save. The visitors looked like the better side and almost scored before halftime, with another long effort from Vasilis Papafotis going wide. 

A slower second half did not see much action, with Doxa looking the better side again. In the 73rd minute, a beautiful effort from the left by Papafotis found Carlitos in the heart of Salamina’s defense, and he managed to find the back of the net for the visitors with a strong effort. Salamina tried to find the equalizer, however, Doxa’s strong defending prevailed as they completed the final upset of the weekend. Doxa are still bottom of the table, ten points from the safe zone, though they kept track with the other teams above them. Salamina failed to capitalize on AEL’s loss, and they remain in seventh, two points behind the first playoff group. 

by Marios Antoniou and Andreas Mantzas

Image Source: Sport FM Cyprus

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