Apollon crash out of Europa League after home thrashing

Apollon were knocked out of the Europa League by Lech Poznan on Wednesday night, with the Limassol side hammered 5-0 at home by their Polish opponents.

Apollon had a less than ideal start to the game with Dabo, arguably their star player so far this season, being injured in the 11th minute before being hooked for Gianniotas.

Apollon had a chance to open the score in the 35th minute when Diguiny’s first-time volley after a Denic cross went over the bar.

Apollon conceded in the 42nd minute. A chipped pass over Apollon’s defensive line found Tiba who finished calmly to give Lech Poznan the lead.

Apollon started the second half with a substitution, with Larsson replacing Pittas.

The second half didn’t go as planned for the Cypriot side, who conceded a second goal through Ishak in the 47th minute.

Lech Poznan killed the game in the 58th minute when a long pass from deep caught Apollon out, with most players committed forward. Kaminski ran free and finished the counter-attack with composure.

The Polish side added a fourth goal in the 81st minute, when Sykora’s shot from the edge of the area beat goalkeeper Demetriou at the near post.

Markovic got close to clawing one back for the Cypriot side in the 90th minute with a shot from distance but the ball ended up going wide.

The visitors added insult to injury with a fifth goal in the 91st minute when Kacharava’s back-heel found Tiba inside the area who grabbed his second goal of the game.

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