AEK of Larnaca beat on Saturday Nea Salamina in GSZ Stadium 2-0 and is only two points behind the leading APOEL, which drew with Anorthosis of Famagusta in Antonis Papadopoulos Stadium.
For the Group A` of the Chmapionship, Omonia achieved a great victory against Apollon of Limassol and is now in the third place of the standings.
The race for the Cyprus football championship was blown wide open following another slip by leaders APOEL who could only draw with Anorthosis, while AEK defeated Nea Salamina to move to within two points of the defending champions.
In the relegation battle, Ethnikos Achnas hit three past fellow strugglers Paphos FC and rekindled their slim hopes of first division survival even though they are still four points away from safety.
APOEL could only draw for the second consecutive week, this time in a 1-1 draw away to Anorthosis.
The leaders were yet again a shadow of the team that racked up 12 consecutive wins since the beginning of the year.
Anorthosis took the lead in the 70th minute came from well outside the area, Laifis beating APOEL keeper Pardo from 20 metres out.
APOEL managed to equalise two minutes from time thanks to a well-taken free-kick by Yianniotas.
AEK defeated Nea Salamina to maintain the pressure on APOEL.
Andre Alves opened the scoring midway into the first half with Tomas making the game safe just before the hour mark from the penalty spot.
Omonia defeated in-form Apollon 2-1 in Limassol.
Apollon took an early lead through Freire but Omonia fought back strongly and managed to equalize through Skembri and the same player scored the winner late on.
Ethnikos produced one of their best displays of the season to overcome fellow relegation candidates Paphos FC 3-0.
Ethnikos opened the scoring in the 28th minute through Hadjivassilis and the same player doubled the advantage four minutes later. The icing on the cake came from Jacob 13 minutes from time.
Despite the win Ethnikos still trail the Paphos team by four points.
In the other games, AEL had few problems in defeating Ermis 3-1, while Doxa and Aris settled for a 1-1 draw in Nicosia.
The results of matchday 5 of the second phase: Group A`: Anorthosis-APOEL 1-1, AEK-Nea Salamina 2-0, Apollon-Omonia 1-2. Group B`: AEL- Ermis 3-1, Doxa-Aris 1-1, Ethnikos-Paphos FC 3-0.
Standings: Group A: APOEL 73, AEK 61, Omonia 58, Apollon 57, Anorthosis 56, Nea Salamina 33. Group B`: AEL 42, Ermis 36, Aris 35, Doxa 34, Paphos 32, Ethnicos 28.