Weekend 28/29 October 2017
First Division
Ethnikos Achnss 1 Apoel 1
Omonia 1 Anorthosis1
Alki Oroklini 0 AEK 1
Apollon 4 Doxa Katokopias 2
Pafos 0 Aris 0
Olympiakos 1 New Salamis 1
Ermis Aradippou 0 AEL 1
AEK Larnaca moved clear at the top of the table for the first time this season following their slender but deserved win over Alki and Anorthosis’ away draw against Omonia.
Apollon swept aside Doxa 4-2 with consummate ease, while Apoel’s woes continued after they could only draw against bottom club Ethnikos Achnas.
Anorthosis maintained their unbeaten start to the season thanks to a last-gasp equaliser by defender Douglas Ferreira who took advantage of a dreadful blunder by Omonia’s Dutch goalkeeper Piet Velthuizen.
It was no more than what Anorthosis deserved as they were the better team for most of the game and could have opened the scoring in the first half but both Rayo and Kamara blasted wide from promising positions.
Omonia opened the scoring in the 56th minute with their first attempt on goal through Rafa Lopes. The goal forced Anorthosis to push more players forward in search of the equaliser but the home side defended well and were on course for a famous victory until the sixth minute of added time when Velthuizen dropped the ball allowing Douglas to equalise from close range.
AEK’s Florian Taulemeuse scored his 10th goal of the season to gave AEK the three points against Alki.
The goal came midway into the second half after AEK had squandered a host of chances to open the scoring including a first half penalty miss by Larena.
Alki sprung to life only when they fell behind and could have snatched a point in the final stages of the game if their players showed more composure in front of goal.
In a blistering opening 45 minutes Apollon hit four past Doxa Katokopias rendering the second half a formality.
It took Apollon less than five minutes to open the scoring through Nicola Martinez with Anton Maglica, Andre Skembri and Joao Pedro also getting on the scoresheet.
In the second half Apollon dropped down a gear and this allowed Doxa to score through Nils Zatl and Wilson Kenedy.
Giorgos Donis, Apoel’s manager, handed in his resignation following yet another abysmal Apoel performance that saw them drop two more points against bottom placed Ethnikos Achnas. The resignation through was not accepted by the Apoel board.
Ethnikos Achnas took the lead as early as the 11th minute through Kyprianou but Apoel needed almost an hour to mount a serious threat on the Ethnikos goal.
They finally managed to rescue a point through Pote in the 65th minute.
AEL left it late against Ermis Aradippou with second-half substitute Mike Arruabarrena scoring the only goal of the game in the 87th minute while in the two final games points were shared as Olympiakos and Nea Salamina drew 1-1 while Pafos FC vs Aris ended goalless.
Standings: ΑΕΚ 22, Anorthosis 20, Paphos 16 (9 games), AEL 16 (9 games), Apollon 15 (7 games), Omonia 15 (9 games), Doxa 13, APOEL 11 (7 games), Olympiakos 11, Ermis 9 (9 games), Alki 9, Nea Salamina 7, Aris 7, Ethnikos Ahnas 5.
