Cypriot champions APOEL moved five points clear at the top of the standings on Sunday after clinching a 3-2 win at Ethnikos Achnas hours before AEK Larnaca were held to a shock 1-1 draw at home to relegation battlers AEZ.
Thomas Christiansen’s men took all three points at the Dasaki Stadium – a ground where Ethnikos had been undefeated all season – to maintain pole position in the league title race. Goals from Igor de Camargo, Inaki Astiz and Giannis Giannotas settled the contest for APOEL who also missed a penalty through Facundo Bertoglio.
Yiannis Hatzivasilis and Eduardo Pinceli scored the goals for Ethnikos.
AEK’s problems, meanwhile, got worse after they dropped more points at home to AEZ. The Zakaki club took a shock lead on 20 minutes when Mino allowed Lisandro Semedo’s shot from distance sneak under his legs.
AEK piled on the pressure and equalised late on through Acoran and missed the chance to win it in stoppage time when man of the match Lenos Sofroniou brilliantly saved Ivan Trickovski’s penalty.
In other games this weekend, Apollon beat Anagennises 1-0 while Omonia had an easy afternoon beating Nea Salamina 3-0.
Karmiotissa clinched a crucial 2-1 win at Doxa while Anorthosis beat Ermis 4-1 – a defeat which saw the sacking of coach Giorgos Kosma.
Apoel increased their lead at the top to 5 points following their hard fought win over Ethnikos Achnas and AEK’s unexpected home draw with last but one AEZ Zakakiou. Apollon extended their winning streak to seven, while Omonia hit three past Nea Salamina.
AEZ produced the upset of the weekend as they held high-flying AEK to a 1-1 draw, with the Larnaca team having dropped 8 points (in four games) against opponents fighting for their first division survival.
AEK could have clinched a win had their strikers shown a bit more composure in front of goal. Acoran threw away opportunities to get a hat-trick inside the first 20 minutes, while Charalambides, Moisof and Triscovski were also guilty of failing to find the back of the net
Cyprus Weekly