Apoel inflict first defeat of season on Apollon

Apoel retook top spot in the Cyprus football championship on Wednesday evening with a 2-1 win over Apollon at the Tsirion stadium, inflicting a first league defeat of the season on the Limassol club.

The two sides were facing off for the second time in a week after Apollon’s comprehensive 4-0 win over Apoel in Nicosia seven days previously, but the champions got their revenge on Wednesday, also ending a 12-match winless run against Apollon dating back nearly two years.

The game began well for Apollon, with Anton Maglica opening the scoring after 27 minutes but Apoel got a crucial equaliser deep into first-half injury time thanks to Ghayas Zahid’s free-kick.

Emilio Nsue gave Apoel the lead in the 53rd minute, and despite the sending off of Giorgos Merkis 15 minutes from time, they held on for the three points that sees them leapfrog Apollon into top spot on 51 points, two clear of their rivals.

Elsewhere, third-placed Anorthosis kept up the pressure on the leading duo after a 1-0 win in Paphos, while AEK are just a point behind following a 4-0 romp over Doxa in Larnaca.

Aris enjoyed an easy 4-0 win over Ethnikos in Achna.

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.