By George Christou
OMONIA were punished for excessive complacency on Sunday when they were knocked out of the Coca-Cola Cup, defeated 2-1 by Salamina in a second round, second leg tie. The first leg had ended in a 1-1 draw.
Omonia’s defeat provided the only upset of the second round, as the other big clubs – Anorthosis, Apollonas and Apoel – advanced to the quarter- finals.
Cup holders Apoel had to toil for their 1-1 draw at Paralimni which they secured with a goal in extra-time by Hadjiloucas, the tie finishing 1-0 after 90 minutes and level on aggregate.
League leaders Anorthosis were also made to work very hard by an injury- depleted Aek, securing their passge to the third round, three minutes before the end, through a Krismarevic goal. The tie ended in a 1-1 draw giving Anorthosis as 2-1 aggregate win.
Apollonas and Ethnikos Achna coasted into the quarter with easy wins over Apep and Alki respectively. Apollonas won 3-0 for a 11-0 aggregate over the third division side, while Achna hit four past Alki for a 7-1 aggregate.
The Paphos derby was won by Apop who beat Evagoras 4-2 in an exciting match that was in marked contrast to the goalless first leg draw.
The bottom club of the first division, Ethnikos Ashia, will be in the quarter-final draw for the first time in their history, after a 4-0 defeat of thrid division Yermasoyia. Ashia had also won the first leg 3-1. Another relegation-threatened side, Anagennisis, crushed Ael in Dherynia 4-1 after a goalless first leg.
Omonia must have thought that they only had to turn up at Salamina to win their tie, even though the 1-1 draw in the first leg did not justify such optimism. Still they took the lead through their goal machine Rauffman, on the stroke of half-time and looked to be coasting.
They received a rude awakening in the second half, when Kovasevic missed a sitter. Midway through the half, Salamina were level through Stoic. In the 78th minute, Stoic struck again with a beautifully executed goal. He played the ball through Ioakim’s legs and then put an unstoppable shot past Christofi.
In Paralimni the home side’s inability to convert the chances they create was to prove their downfall once again. They went in front on 32 minutes through Yiasemakis, but were unable to get the all-important second goal.
The same pattern was evident in the first 10 minutes of extra time when Paralimni piled on the pressure. However, it was Apoel, playing without any foreigners (Dulando was injured) and with only one recognised striker (Soteriou) who scored.
Fasouliotis set up the equaliser crossing for Hadjiloukas to poke the ball into the net.
Anorthosis’ tie against Aek was reminiscent of the two sides’ clash in the league a couple of months ago. Then, as on Saturday, Aek took an early lead when Paolinho was put through and comfortably beat keeper Panayiotou.
Anorthosis dominated the match, which was not surprising considering Aek was missing six first-choice players including two Brazilians.
The second half was all Anorthosis, but Aek keeper Constantinou was in inspired form. He blocked a penalty by Krismarevic in the 53rd minute and pulled off some outstanding saves. He was finally beaten, three minutes from the end, when Krismarevic managed to break free and slotted the ball home.
