AEL have clinched their first league title in 44 years after beating Anorthosis Famagusta 1-0 to move five points ahead of APOEL and Omonia with one game left to go.
Pambos Christodoulou’s side were firm favourites heading into Saturday’s end-of-season playoffs and they put the the league title beyond doubt 22 minutes before the end when Luciano Bebe played a neat one-two with Patrick Vouho before beating goalkeeper Matus Kozacik with a precise finish.
The hosts dominated possession especially in the first half and their persistence paid off through Bebe’s clinical finish.
Ivan Jovanovic’s APOEL, who took world football by storm this season with their incredible run in the Champions League, couldn’t repeat the trick at home and they suffered their sixth defeat of the season going down 2-1 to Omonia.
Andreas Avraam had given Omonia the lead on 22 minutes before Ailton pounced on an error by Christos Karpidis to level the score before halftime. Former APOEL player Constantinos Makrides teed up Demetris Christofi for a simple finish with ten minutes remaining and APOEL’s misery was complete in stoppage time when Nuno Morais was sent off for a second bookable offence.
The defeat meant AEL could celebrate only their seventh league title and their first major trophy since lifting the Cyprus Cup back in 1989. The streets of Limassol errupted into celebration and party is set to go on long into the night.
AEL will represent Cyprus in the Champions League qualifying round in July next season while APOEL, Omonia and Anorthosis will also kick off their European campaigns in July in the Europa League.
Cyprus Weekly