APOLLON let a two-goal lead slip against FC Zurich on Thursday night but grabbed an 87thminute winner to earn a historic 3-2 win in the opening group game in the Europa League.
The Limassol club went into the break 2-0 up against the current leaders of the Swiss Super League but were pegged back to level terms early in the second half. Apollon were even reduced to ten men later on yet still managed to find a winner with just a few minutes remaining to seal their first ever home win in the Europa League groups.
Christakis Christoforou’s side pulled off an emphatic 1-4 away win over Lokomotiv Moscow in their last Europa League match and were keen to prove that it was no fluke. Apollon made a dream start to the encounter when Jan Rezek’s knock-down header dropped perfectly into the path of Fotis Papoulis who finished emphatically after just nine minutes.
Apollon did well to limit the Swiss to very little in terms of clear cut openings in the starting 25 minutes but were eventually found guilty of sitting back a bit too much and were soon punished. A cross from the left-hand side was not dealt with and the ball fell to Yassine Chikhaoui on the edge of the six-yard box who hit the post – a warning sign for the hosts.
However, largely against the run of play, Marcos Gullon struck a hopeful left-footed drive from all of 30 yards which snuck into the corner of David Da Costa’s net to give Apollon a healthy 2-0 cushion just five minutes before the break.
Zurich began the second half on the front foot and the goal which had been on the cards for some time finally arrived. On 50 minutes, an excellent side-footed volley by Avi Rikan from a Davide Chiumiento cross brought Zurich back into the game.
And just three minutes later, for all of Apollon’s hard work, Zurich were suddenly back on level terms. After some nice exchanges between the Zurich front men on the edge of the box, the ball was laid off to Gilles Yapi who unleashed an unstoppable left-footed effort into the top corner past a helpless Bruno Vale.
Gullon picked up a second yellow on 80 minutes which looked to have all but ended Apollon’s hopes of winning, but there was to be another twist in the tale.
The Zurich defence failed to deal with Thuram’s cross – a fluffed clearance spun kindly into the path of Rezek who volleyed a centre into towards Papoulis but the ball was instead inadvertently struck home by Philippe Koch into his own net to make it 3-2.
The teams were again on level terms but this time in the player count after Zurich captain Chikaoui picked up a second yellow card for a foul on Rezek. The scoreline, however, remained the same and Apollon held on for a historic win and a vital three points to start off their campaign in Group A.
Cyprus Mail
