By Iacovos Constantinou
It was an eventful weekend in the Cyprus football championship with the top game between Apollon and Anorthosis never kicking off due to security reasons.
Elsewhere, champions APOEL hit six past AEL – becoming the highest scoring team in Europe – and staying top of the league while AEL’S coach resigned.
The eagerly-anticipated clash between Apollon and Anorthosis had to be called off by the referee 75 minutes after the scheduled kick-off as the person in charge of security at the Tsirion stadium could not guarantee the safety of players or officials.
The problem started when the Anorthosis fans, who were fenced in a specific part of the main stand, broke down the barriers, brushed aside the ground stewards and entered the pitch (through an unlocked door!).
According to Apollon president Kirzis, the visiting fans then attacked his players and members of the coaching staff.
Trouble was brewing throughout last week when Apollon announced the number of tickets allocated for the visiting fans. Anorthosis’ complaints fell on deaf ears and the disagreement continued on social media and fanzine radio stations with tension among fans rising.
The Cyprus Football Association’s disciplinary committee will now have to decide whether to award the three points to Apollon or have the game re-scheduled. A similar incident happened a couple of years ago in a game between AEL and APOEL and the committee decided then that the game be re-scheduled.
In the other big weekend game, APOEL hit six past hapless AEL turning what many expected to be a close game into a walk in the park for the home side.
Argentinian striker Fernando Cavenaghi grabbed his first hat-trick in Cyprus with Efraim scoring twice, the second a peach of a shot from 25 metres out. Midfielder Artymatas got APOEL’s other goal.
It could have been much worse for the visitors had APOEL not taken their foot off the pedal with 30 minutes still on the clock, but it was enough for AEL’s Christakis Christophorou to resign from his post as head coach the following day.
In the other games, Paphos FC outplayed Ethnikos Achnas from start to finish and recorded an easy 3-0 win.
The scorers for the Paphos outfit were Gelasvili, Maachi and Grigarasvili.
Omonia had to dig deep to overcome Ermis Aradippou 1-0. The only goal of the game came from Roushias early in the second half after an inviting cross by Kirm.
On Saturday, Ayia Napa twice came back from behind to steal a point against Doxa Katokopias. Doxa had taken the lead through Edmar with Doxa’s Femar equalising on the half-hour mark. A Mertakkas own goal before the break restored the visitors lead but Antoniou salvaged a point for Ayia Napa early in the second half.
Ayia Napa remain the only team still without a win as Aris, the only other winless team util the weekend, fought to beat Enosis Neon Paralimni 2-1. The winning goal was scored by Aurelio from the penalty spot in the 82nd minute.
In the final game of the round on Monday night, AEK blew the chance to join APOEL at the top of the table when they were surprisingly beaten 2-1 at home in Larnaca by Nea Salamina.
