Second half goals from Gustavo Manduca and Nuno Morais gave APOEL three valuable points in the championship and bragging rights in Nicosia with a 2-0 win which put them right back in the title race.
In the evening’s other game last night a stoppage time goal from Gaston Sangoy finally broke Aris’ steadfast resistance and gave Apollon a 1-0 win in a bad-tempered game in Limassol. The win lifted Apollon to 30 points and joint top with rivals AEL.
In Nicosia an even first half ended goal-less with both sides creating good chances. Leandro had the best of the chances for Omonia but his effort was well saved. APOEL responded well with an effort from Manduca.
The Brazilian made up for his earlier miss by stabbing home from close range after the keeper could only palm away Stathis Aloneftis’ effort in the 54th minute.
Omonia responded to the setback with good efforts in the 64th minute and had a good claim for a penalty turned down by the referee when Platini went down in the box after a challenge.
Omonia continued to press for an equaliser and Renato Margaça forced another good save from the keeper in the 72nd minute.
APOEL made the Greens pay for their inability to find the back of the net by scoring a second through Morais two minutes later.
Omonia drop to sixth in the standings with 24 points while APOEL leap-frogged them into third with 26 points.
In Limassol a stubborn Aris side frustrated Apollon’s attempts to take top spot until the sixth minute of injury time when Sangoy found the net with a diving header. Both sides ended the game with 10-men as game as tempers frayed.
Cyprus Weekly