Tight at the top after Anorthosis stun Omonia

ANORTHOSIS stunned league leaders Omonia 1-0 at the GSP Stadium in Nicosia over the weekend to leave a three-way tie at the top of the standings.

Defending champions APOEL are only a point behind in fourth after Nektarios Alexandrou’s 77th minute goal gave them a 1-0 win over Aris,  in what is turning out to be one of the most exciting title races in many years.

Despite having to play with ten men after the interval after defender Marko Andic received his second booking in the last minute of the first half, Ronny Levy’s Anorthosis still managed a fantastic win when 25-year-old Brazilian forward Evandro Roncatto slotted the ball past Antonis Georgallides with five minutes to go.

“I am very happy we won. We fought throughout the game and deserved to get something out of it. However, there are still many games ahead of us and we must continue to work hard and try to win them all,” Roncatto said.

Levy praised his players’ teamwork: “It was an excellent game and we played against a very strong side,” he said. “Obviously we expected to be put under a lot of pressure, which only piled up once we had to play the second half with ten men. However, we were playing as a team and managed to score at the best possible time and then see the game off.”

Omonia manager Neophytos Larkou, who returned to the dugout after serving a four-game ban, was disappointed that his side could not make better use of their superior ball possession. “It was a good game, but unfortunately we failed to get a positive result,” he said. “We had the ball for most of the game but we lacked concentration in the middle of the field. I hope that this defeat will help us build up a stronger character for the games to come as nothing is lost yet.”

Nea Salamina beat Anagennisi Derynias 5-2, while Moustapha Bangura scored both goals in Apollon’s 2-0 victory over Olympiakos.

Making headlines off the pitch, the Cyprus Football Association on Saturday postponed the match between Enosis Neon Paralimni and Ermis Aradippou due to suspicious betting activity.

In the final match of Round 17 last night, Ethnikos Achnas hosted AEK Larnaca at the Dasaki Stadium.


The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.