ANORTHOSIS coach Guillermo Angel Hoyos looked forward to the season ahead after his side beat APOP Kiniras 3-0 at the Antonis Papadopoulos Stadium in Larnaca on Sunday.
“We knew from the start that the game would be difficult but we really wanted to get the victory,” Hoyos said.
“The first half was very hard as APOP controlled the game well and we did not have any good opportunities,” he added.
“Fortunately for us, we scored early in the second half and from then on we were able to impose ourselves onto our opponents and play well. Congratulations to the players and the fans on their help. We will now have much more confidence for the games to come,” Hoyos concluded.
Elsewhere, Spanish midfielder Jos? Manuel Rueda scored the winning goal for defending champions Omonia 19 minutes from time as the Nicosia giants struggled to get going in front of the empty stands of the GSP Stadium following their punishment over incidents of crowd trouble last season.
“Ethnikos were very solid throughout the game. We must improve our first pass in the future as, up to 25th minute, we had serious problems controlling the game and no patience when on the ball,” explained Omonia boss Takis Lemonis.
“I am pleased with the victory but not with our first half performance,” he added.
Meanwhile, Obadiah Tarumbwa scored the only goal of the game as Enosis Neon Paralimni shocked APOEL at the Paralimni Municipal Stadium ‘Tassos Markou’.
?edomir Janevski, Paralimni’s coach, was pleased with the final outcome. “Congratulations to my players on this victory. I know APOEL are one of the best teams in the league, but we did not find it hard to come up with a game plan.
“Perhaps it is because they are not patient enough and we expected them to make a mistake and we took advantage of it.
“In the first half we had a couple of quality opportunities and during the interval I told my players to continue in the same rhythm and we managed to score and win.
“It is a great day for our small community and we should celebrate it, but not get too excited because we could then get very disappointed should we lose in the games to come.”
In other games of the round AEK Larnaca beat Apollonas in Limassol 2-1, while the other Larnaca team Alki overcame AEP Paphos with the same score, also away from home.
Doxa Katokopia and AEL Limassol played out a goalless draw.
