AEL up to second, Omonia can join Apollon at top

AEL have climbed to second in the Cyprus First Division after defeating Doxa Katokopias 3-1 in Limassol on Friday night.

While Doxa went ahead early in the game through a Sadik penalty, it was all AEL from there onwards.

Ryan Mmaee scored twice in the final ten minutes of the first half to flip the game on its head, while Manuel Torres added a third goal in the 65th minute to kill the game off for the hosts.

AEL are now just two points behind leaders Apollon, while Doxa remain in sixth place and can potentially be overtaken by a number of sides who are within touching distance.

Omonia meanwhile will have a chance to join Apollon at the top of the table when they face Enosis in Paralimni on Saturday.

Should Omonia beat resurgent Enosis, with the hosts having recently beat title contenders AEL at home, they will match Apollon’s 43 points, before the Limassol side have a chance to re-establish their three-point lead when they play against Salamina a day later.

Speaking to Omonia’s in-house TV channel on Friday, manager Henning Berg said that Enosis will not be an easy opponent for his side.

“We expect a tough match. They’ve had some good results lately and for sure we have to be ready”, Berg said.

“They will have some confidence after these results but at the same time we are in good form as well and we look forward to the match”, he added.

Commenting on Omonia’s successful defensive displays this season, resulting in ten clean sheets in 20 league games, Berg was quick to apportion praise to the entire team for its defensive contributions, rather than restricting any positive comments to his back five.

“Defensively we are doing well. The whole team is playing well defensively. I think we are okay offensively as well. At the moment we are in an okay position”, Berg explained.

Enosis president Giorgos Tsokkos meanwhile took to social media on Friday to provide his thoughts on the game against Omonia.

“Omonia managed to escape two years ago. We have beaten all the big teams in recent years except Omonia. Omonia have an excellent defensive structure but this is also their weakness as they cannot kill games out. This is why they have not lost a derby but have lost to Salamina and Olympiakos”, Tsokkos wrote.

“A win will take us into the top six of the table and we are going into the game boosted by player returns and a lot of confidence”, the Enosis president added.

Apollon, who face Salamina on Sunday as mentioned above, have been attracting the headlines recently for their transfer activity.

The Limassol club have sold Attila Szalai to Fenerbahce which forced them to dip into the transfer market to cover gaps and strengthen their squad.

Apollon have already confirmed the loaning of Dutch attacking midfielder and winger Diego Biseswar from Paok, while the club has also confirmed that they have reached an agreement with former Manchester United and Dynamo Moscow left-back Alexander Büttner. Büttner will sign a one-and-a-half year contract, keeping him at the club until the end of next season.

The biggest game of the round will take place later on Sunday, when Apoel host Anorthosis in Nicosia.

Both teams have been doing well over the past three rounds, with Anorthosis stringing together three wins on the trot and Apoel winning twice and drawing once.

Apoel’s newest signing, defender Paulo Vinicious, has already arrived in Cyprus, but will not be available for selection against Anorthosis due to him having to enter quarantine.

A win for Apoel would be crucial since it would be enough to bring them on level terms with Doxa who at the time of writing are in sixth place.