Ten men Anorthosis Famagusta were sent tumbling out of the Cyprus Coca-Cola Cup after going down 3-1 at AEK Larnaca.
The defeat is poised to have serious repercussions on the financially-hit Famagusta club who will now need to, at the very least, finish fifth to have any hope of European football next season while AEK marched victoriously into quarterfinals of the competition. The first leg between the two sides had finished 1-1 while Anorthosis and their under-fire coach Jorge Costa were last weekend held to a 2-2 draw at home to relegation battlers AEK Kouklia.
Anorthosis’ hopes were dashed early on when Andreas Avraam was handed a second booking on 17 minutes for a deliberate handball and coach Jorge Costa’s (photo) problems went from bad to worse five minutes later when star player Gonzalo Garcia limped off the pitch and was replaced by Cyprus under-19 international Andreas Makris.
The visitors continued to enjoy the majority of possession despite being a man down but it was AEK who took the lead against the run of play. Serginho Green was left unmarked at the far past to head his side in front just before the break but Anorthosis continued to press forward missing several opportunities through Amit Ben Shushan and Valentinos Sielis.
AEK added a second goal when Joan Tomas’ powerful strike evaded Mario Vega on 75 minutes. Although teenager Makris reduced the deficit soon after for his third league goal of the season, Nikos Englezou knocked the wind out of Anorthosis’ sail with a rasping effort one minute before the end.
In the build-up to the game, media reports suggested that Jorge Costa could face the sack if he failed to take his side through in the Cup.
Anorthosis are also sweating over the results of an independent feasibility study looking into whether it is viable for the club’s football department to be converted into a company. Chairman Christos Poullaides is claiming that the company creation is the club’s only salvation but his views have been countered by a large majority of fans as well as some former chairmen.
In the other second leg tie yesterday afternoon, second division bound Alki battled to a 2-0 victory away to second division B2 side Onisilos Sotiras at the Tasos Markou Stadium in Paralimni.
The two sides had played out a thrilling 3-3 draw in the first leg but visitors Alki, who sit at the bottom of the first division on -24 points, took a first half lead after Christos Gerimos turned past his own keeper. Gerasimos Fylaktou made sure of the victory after adding a second deep into stoppage time
Cyprus weekly
