Apollon sent shockwaves across the continent onThursday night after they emphatically beat Russian side Lokomotiv in Moscow 4-1 to reach the Europa League group stage.
The trouncing was arguably one of the best performances by a Cypriot club away in Europe.
Few pundits gave the Limassol team much hope of an upset against the Russian favourites especially after drawing the home leg 1-1 and being thumped in the league 5-2 by AEK Larnaca in the opening weekend.
But the blue half of Limassol made it to the groups in what turned out to be a stroll in the park.
Striker Rezek got the all important first goal after 20 minutes when he headed home past keeper Guilherme. The game then became stretched as the Moscow side searched for a foothold in the match.
But there was no way back when Papoulis scored from close range early in the second half, before Thuram and Lopez put the game beyond doubt with superbly taken goals in the last quarter of the tie.
Ex-Spurs man Pavlyuchenko got a face-saving consolation goal with five minutes to go but this was an historic night for Apollon and there were wild celebrations back home in Limassol.
But in the capital there were tears rather than cheers as packed house at the GSP saw Omonia lose to a sucker punch in the dying embers of the match as the game neared extra time against a 10-man Dinamo Moscow.
Omonia failed to deal with a free-kick in the third minute of stoppage time when Samba headed in the winner as he jumped above keeper Moreira. It was heartbreak for the fans as Omonia gave a good account of themselves against the millionaire Russians.
But again it was poor defending that gave Dinamo the lead on 11 minutes with a Stepanov own goal.
A bullet header from Pote put the home side back in contention and they seemed to have gained the upper hand when Vainqueur was sent off on 73 minutes for a second bookable offence.
The Greens may also argue they had two good goals disallowed by the officials.
However, a late, late, late goal from Samba – who also scored in the 2-2 draw in Moscow – dashed Omonia’s Europa League dreams. Their frustrated fans must now wait before another European adventure can begin.
cyprus weekly
