Sports

Apoel striker Esteban Solari had fans chanting his name after another sterling performance in the blue and yellow, with the Argentine bagging his side’s two goals in a 2-1 win over Olympiakos. The balances in the top flight were left undisturbed, however, as Omonia too secured the three points, following a 4-1 thrashing of lowly Aris. Elsewhere, Famagusta club Anorthosis overcame Ethnikos in a close 3-2 game, while Paralimni pulled off a major upset, defeating ambitious AEL 3-0.

Although league leaders Apoel were the better team on the field, kudos go to bottom-of-the-table Olympiakos, who put up a valiant fight to the end.  The hosts opened the scoring on 22 minutes through Solari, who added another from the penalty spot 10 minutes later. Olympiakos were cut down to 10 men just before halftime when Godwin was sent off in what was a rather harsh decision. But they kept trying for the best, with their counterattacks paying off on 64 minutes, when Nicolaou slashed the deficit to 2-1, as it stayed.

Second-placed Omonia meanwhile were back to their winning ways, beating Aris 4-1. Despite missing a couple of key players, the Greens were able to step up a gear from previous performances, showing they were a class above their opponents. Omonia opened their account on 35 minutes through Vega, with Dobrasinoviv, ‘Ba, and Constandi adding another goal each. Aris’ only goal came courtesy of Mihalca on 72 minutes. The Greens still trail Apoel by four points, but are very much in title contention.

Timur Ketsbaia’s Anorthosis had to sweat it against tough Ethnikos but managed to come away with maximum points. Much as predicted, the match turned out to be too close to call. Twice the hosts went ahead, only for Ethnikos to level. The winner came on 79 minutes when Pahars made it 3-2 to Anorthosis, who are currently placed third in the table with 36 points.

And 10th placed Paralimni got a huge boost away to AEL with a remarkable 3-0 win. Helped by some great saves from their keeper, the visitors got an early lead through Spyrou, relieving the pressure as AEL struggled to get back on level terms. On 82 minutes Spyrou struck again, and two minutes later Atorno put the final nail in the hosts’ coffin.

In the other fixtures, AEK was held 1-1 by Dighenis, Salamina and FC Paphos settled for a goalless draw, and Apollon managed a 1-0 victory over newcomers Ayia Napa.

Standings (17 games played):

1. Apoel 39-16 40
2. Omonia 42-14 36
3. Anorthosis 28-15 36
4. Apollon 24-22 27
5. AEK  24-19 25
6. Salamina 23-23 22
7. AEL  22-28 22
8. Ethnikos 27-26 20
9. Aris  26-45 20
10. Paralimni 21-20 20
11. Dighenis 13-27 14
12. Ayia Napa 18-24 14
13. FC Paphos 15-24 14
14. Olympiakos 14-33 10

Leading scorers:
14 goals: Esteban Solari (Apoel)
11 goals: Adrian Mihalca (Aris)
9 goals: Nemanja Corovic (AEL); Yato Cisse (AEK)
8 goals: Musa M’Guni (Omonia); Lukasz Sosin (Apollon); Milan Pelic (Ethnikos)