Doxa Katokopia became the first big casualties of the Cyprus Coca-Cola Cup on Wednesday after losing to Anagennises Deryneia while Ethnikos Achnas needed a last-gasp goal in extra time to see off AEK Kouklion. In other games, APOEL, AEK, Anorthosis, Apollon and Enosis all cruised into the second round of the competition. But the same couldn’t be said of Doxa with Marios Constantinou’s men succumbing to a shock home defeat to second division side Anagennises. The only goal of the game was scored by Ghanaian midfielder Felix Kenu in the first minute and Adamos Adamou’s side held on for the remainder of the game to book their place in the next round. As a result of the defeat, the board of Doxa announced that the players would be fined for their “unacceptable performance”. Ethnikos Achnas almost suffered a similar fate as Doxa but staged a late escape in Paphos against second division high flyers AEK Koukion. Former Apollon striker Stamatis Pantos had given AEK the lead just before halftime before Marcelo Penta equalised for the first division strugglers straight after the restart. Costas Solomou restored AEK’s lead on 78 minutes but Marco Paixao snatched a dramatic equaliser in stoppage time to send the game into extra time. The game looked to be heading towards penalties as AEK desperately battled to hang on in extra time but Demetris Simov broke AEK hearts after scoring in the final minute to send his side into the next round. An APOEL side featuring Esteban Solari and Dionysis Chiotis secured the biggest result of the night as they hammered Chalkanoras 8-1 in Nicosia. The contest was effectively over within the first seven minutes as Ivan Jovanovic’s men raced into a 3-0 lead. Solari and Constantinos Charalambides both bagged hat-tricks in the romp while there were also goals for Selim Benachour and Paulo Sergio. Evgenios Antoniou – a former APOEL youth player – scored a late consolation goal for Chalkanoras. Apollon also made light work of APEP’s challenge as they sealed a comfortable 5-0 win – four of the goals arriving in the opening 30 minutes. Roberto Garcia, Bojan Markovski, new signing Dady and a brace from George Theodorides saw last season’s finalists safely through. AEK Larnaca – who are joint league leaders with APOEL and Anorthosis – enjoyed a 3-0 success at Omonia Aradippou courtesy of a hat-trick from Dutch midfielder Tom Daemen while Romanian striker Emil Jula scored both goals in a rare appearance as Anorthosis beat Onisilos 2-0. Costas Kaiafas’ Alki beat Akritas Chlorakas 6-0 after two goals apiece from Roei Beckel, Bruno Cirillo and Cafu while Enosis Neon Paralimniou also had an easy afternoon beating Ethnikos Ashias in Nicosia 4-0. Nea Salamina and Olympiakos Nicosia also booked their places in the next round with wins away to Othellos and AEZ Zakakiou respectively. Last season’s Cup winners Omonia and fellow finalists AEL will join the winners in the next round of the competition. Cyprus Coca-Cola Cup, First Round: Ethnikos Ashias v Enosis 0-4 (Okoduwa 13, 71, Filipe da Costa pen 42, Krljanovic 82) Apollon v APEP 5-0 (Roberto Garcia 12, Markovski 20, Dady 22, Theodorides 27, 56) APOEL v Chalkanoras 8-1 (Solari 4, 29, 56, Benachour 5, Charalambides 7, 17, 27, Paulo Sergio 64 / E. Antoniou 85) Alki v Akritas 6-0 (Beckel 27, 70, Cirillo 55, 67, Cafu 72, 86) Ethnikos Ashias v Enosis 0-4 (Okoduwa 13, 71, Filipe da Costa pen 42, Krljanovic 82) AEZ v Olympiakos 0-2 (Michael 12, 47) Onisilos v Anorthosis 0-2 (Jula 12, 46) Doxa v Anagennises 0-1 (Kenu 1) Othellos v Nea Salamina 1-2 (Graszl o.g. 65 / Moreira 48, Lambropoulos 60) Omonia Aradippou v AEK Larnaca 0-3 (Daemen 47, 81, 90)
Cyprus Weekly