ERMIS manager Nicos Andronikou was delighted after his side eliminated Apollon Limassol in the round of 16 of the Coca Cola Cup after a 3-1 second leg extra-time victory at the Ammochostos Stadium. The Aradippou side went through 4-3 on aggregate.
“This win represents a great opportunity for our younger players to get some first team experience,” he said.
“The game itself was very interesting. We did not play well in the first half and after they took the lead they had a chance to kill off the tie if they had scored from the penalty spot.
“We managed to improve our performance in the second half and scored two goals which forced extra time. Then we managed to score again early in the first extra period and that proved to be enough to advance,” Andronikou added
“This is a great day for our club and I will surely give an opportunity to our youngsters in the next round regardless of the opponent,” he concluded.
After winning the first leg 2-1, things were looking good for the Limassol outfit when Portuguese forward Joao Paolo opened the scoring 20 minutes into the game. Paolo then had a chance in 70th minute to seal the tie, but his penalty was saved by Corrin Brooks-Meade in the Ermis goal. The hosts then scored twice in quick succession to force extra time through Marios Charalambous and Stelios Demetriou – who are both on loan from Apollon – while Christodoulos Kountouretis set up the final score three minutes into extra time.
“We could have won the game if we had scored the penalty. Instead we gave them a lifeline and I am sure that their second goal came from an offside position,” said Apollon manager Mihai Stoichita.
“Similar to the game against APOEL, we had many chances to score, but all the mistakes we made cost us goals.
“I want to congratulate Ermis for their passion and hard work, while I want to apologise to our fans for disappointing them. Despite the defeat I believe that we played well and we must continue in the same direction,” Stoichita added.
Elsewhere, in first leg matches, Omonia beat Nea Salamina 2-0, Anorthosis won 3-2 away at second division APOP Kinyras and Alki Larnaca and Ethnikos Achnas recorded 2-0 home victories against AEP Paphos and Aris Limassol respectively.
