Apoel knock league leaders Apollon out of Cyprus Cup

Apoel continued to show signs of improvements under new manager Savvas Poursaitidis by beating Apollon 2-1 in Nicosia on Wednesday night, knocking the Limassol side out of the Cyprus Cup.

It did not take long for the hosts to assert themselves, with Apoel opening the score in the eighth minute through Giorgos Efrem.

Efrem’s goal was a poacher’s effort, since the attacking midfielder and winger received the ball after exploiting space behind Apollon’s defensive line.

Efrem was so close to the edge of Apollon’s defensive line that the goal had to be checked by VAR. The subsequent check found no offside in the build-up.

Apoel went close with another good chance in the 33rd minute when Israeli forward Ben Sahar was given the ball inside Apollon’s penalty area. Sahar, primed for a shot from close range, was blocked at the very last moment by a well-timed tackle by defender Valentin Roberge.

The last big moment of the first half came in the 45th minute when Ghayas Zahid’s determination and dribbling ability during a counter-attack resulted in a shot to Demetriou’s near post which the Apollon goalkeeper managed to parry out for a corner.

Apollon started the second half a transformed team. Buoyed by the half-time introduction of Ioannis Pittas for Serge Gapke, the visitors equalised the game in the 48th minute.

A poor pass from Apoel goalkeeper Uzoho allowed Apollon to regain possession inside the final third, with the ball quickly being distributed to Pittas on the left-hand side.

Pittas quickly curled a beautiful shot which bounced off the right-hand post and into Apoel defender Shelis’ path who inadvertently trundled the ball into his own net.

Apollon manager Giannis Petrakis was forced into a second substitution in the 52nd minute when a knock to Giannis Gianniotas resulted in the latter being hooked for Nicolas Diguiny.

Apollon sustained their pressure for the next ten minutes but a number of final passes and attempts on goal were ultimately easy for Apoel to deal with, despite being relatively pinned back in their own half.

Apoel manager Poursaitidis sought to freshen things up for his side in the 67th minute by bringing on attacking midfielder Tomás De Vincenti for young midfielder Giannis Satsias.

Apollon had two more attempts at grabbing a second goal in the 71st and 75th minutes through Charlison Benschop and Fanos Katelaris respectively, but both shots failed to find the target.

Despite Apollon dominating the second half up to that point, it was Apoel who took the lead again when Zahid scored 11 minutes from time.

Zahid, who has arguably been Apoel’s best player in recent games, received the ball on the left-hand side of Apollon’s penalty area, cleverly shimmied in front of an Apollon defender to give himself space and finished with a low, driven shot, sending the ball past Demetriou.

Apollon manager Petrakis reacted to this latest development by making his third and fourth substitutions of the game in the 83rd minute, when Petros Psychas came on for Giorgos Vasiliou and Hector Yuste came on for Fanos Katelaris.

Poursaitidis quickly responded with his own substitutions, bringing on Giorgos Merkis for Giorgos Efrem and Stavros Gavriel for Ben Sahar.

The final ten minutes yielded little for either side, with Apoel happy to soak up any pressure and counter-attack when possession was regained, before celebrating at the final whistle.