Apoel in trouble after Qarabag defeat

Apoel suffered a big Champions League blow after a 2-1 defeat by Qarabag in the first leg of their third qualifying round tie at the GSP stadium in Nicosia on Tuesday night.

After a goalless first half, the Azeri visitors opened the scoring after 54 minutes through Mahir Emreli, with Magaye Gueye adding a second 15 minutes later.

With the match well into injury time, and with things looking bleak, Giorgos Merkis scored what could end up being a vital goal for the Cyprus champions with a 95th-minute strike to give Apoel hope.

The Nicosia giants now have it all to do if they are to overturn the tie in next week’s second leg in Azerbaijan.

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.