Mourinho-esque tactics backfire for Berg’s Omonia

The big match of the weekend in Cyprus between AEL and Omonia in Limassol ended in a 1-1 draw, with the home side snatching a point in the 92nd-minute.

Following leaders Apollon’s emphatic 4-1 away win over Ethnikos Achnas on Saturday, the draw at the Tsirion leaves AEL in second place with 38 points and Omonia in third with 36 points, one and three points from the top respectively.

Following the game, Omonia manager Henning Berg acknowledged that his side couldn’t really grab a hold of the game despite their early lead.

“It was a difficult game for us and the third one in seven days against a good team. In the first half, we had some problems but scored a nice goal. Besides that, we could not play our game, neither offensively nor defensively”, Berg said.

Omonia gradually retreated after their early goal, giving AEL the initiative and trying to see the game out. Berg explained that this approach was in part a result of his own instructions, and also a reflection of both teams’ performances on the day.

“AEL played with quality while we were not as good as we should have been”, Berg said.

Berg’s counterpart, AEL manager Dusan Kerkez, said that his team were better than Omonia on the day but that it was difficult to breach such a compact and defensively sound side.

“We didn’t play so well, we could have been better, but we were the better team on the pitch”, Kerkez said.

“It’s difficult when a team plays so defensively. They are very organised at the back. We had some chances and should have won”, Kerkez added.

AEL attacking midfielder Danilo Campos meanwhile said this season is ‘very special’ for himself, explaining that his performances have been pleasing and that hard work must continue to be applied so that AEL’s objectives are met.

“We have a good rhythm and we are aware of our responsibilities until the end of the season”, Danilo said.

All three of Apollon, AEL and Omonia have theoretically winnable games in the next two rounds, but if the current season has taught us one thing, it is to avoid makinng bold predictions.

Elsewhere over the weekend, Savvas Poursaitidis’ debut was a successful one with Apoel grabbing a valuable 3-0 win over Ermis in Nicosia.

This was Apoel’s first win in five games and broke a rotten streak of four consecutive league losses.

Poursaitidis’ post-match press conference doubled up as an introductory session with the press as Apoel’s new manager, with the Greek coach speaking at length about his new role.

“At the moment, what we are focused on is improving everyone’s confidence”, Poursaitidis noted, highlighting the need to lift everyone’s spirits during an extremely troubled season.

“It’s a great honour to be Apoel’s new manager. We are all being judged on a daily basis and I am used to that since I became a professional at 18 years of age. I have never been afraid of my responsibility nor have I ever hidden from them”, Poursaitidis added.

In off-the-pitch news, English Cypriot manager and erstwhile FIFA instructor Stephen Constantine took to LinkedIn to announce his new role as Pafos FC’s Head of Sporting Operations.

“Am pleased to announce that today I officially joined Pafos FC as Head of Sporting Operations and am really looking forward to getting down to work”, Constantine’s post read.

Constantine’s last professional involvement in Cyprus was in 2013 when he managed Ethnikos Achnas following a stint at Nea Salamina during the prior two years.

Constantine has extensive footballing knowledge in currently untapped and unfancied markets after his managerial tenures as the national team coach of Nepal, India, Malawi, Sudan and Rwanda.

Two games on Monday night completed Round 18, with Anorthosis winning 3-0 at Olympiakos and Nea Salamina beating Pafos FC 2-0.