Omonia defeated Doxa Katokopias 0-3 away from home to go joint top with Apollon, matching the Limassol club’s tally of 47 points.
Apollon can reclaim their three-point lead over Omonia on Saturday when they face Karmiotissa away from home.
Omonia opened the score in the 22nd minute through Marko Šćepović. Ernest Asante was released on the right-hand side of Doxa’s penalty area before hitting low cross-cum-shot towards the back post, finding the Serbian forward who was happy to finish from close range.
The Greens added a second in the 67th minute with what would end up being the first of Papoulis’ two goals on the day.
A lovely diagonal pass from Jordi Gomez found Jan Lechaks on the left flank with the Czech full-back delivering an accurate cross towards Papoulis who nodded the ball into the net.
The Greek attacking midfielder and winger snatched a second goal for himself in the 85th minute after slotting in a penalty kick following an accidental handball inside the penalty area by Doxa defender Martinos Christofi.
Speaking after the game, Papoulis tried to keep an even keel after Omonia’s win, highlighting the importance of remaining calm regardless of the result.
“Our team showed that it has faith in itself. We are a team with capital letters. We must not bow our head when we lose and we must not become arrogant when we win”, Papoulis said.
“We have a long way to go. I’m part of a team and I’m trying to help this team. Everyone deserves congratulations. It is a given that we are after the title and that’s what we are working towards”, the Greek added.
Omonia youngster Loizos Loizou was not afraid to address the ambition of Omonia’s fanbase, fearlessly raising the bar for both himself and his teammates.
“Omonia’s fans aren’t just demanding the title, they want it all. If they just want the league then they aren’t demanding enough!”, Loizou said.
In Friday’s evening game Olympiakos fought back from a goal down to defeat Nea Salamina by 2-1.
Osei gave Nea Salmina the lead in 27th minute but 5 minutes later Salli hit the equalizer.
Ten minutes from time Mantzis gave Olympiakos the three points.
Nea Salamina thought they had levelled the score a few minutes later but Danilo was caught in an offside position by VAR.
With the win Olympiakos overtook Nea Salmina into 7th place.
Doxa Katokopias 0 – 3 Omonia Nicosia (highlights)
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