Omonia were beaten 2-0 by Granada in Nicosia on Thursday night, meaning Henning Berg’s men now have a mountain to climb in their remaining three Europa League games.
After the heartbreak against PSV, when Donyell Malen netted the winning goal for the Dutch giants in the last minute of the match, 10-man Omonia lost 2-0 at the GSP Stadium against Spanish side Granada.
The visitors arrived in Cyprus without their manager Diego Martinez due to an inconclusive Covid-19 test result, with the team’s trainer Victor Lafuente replacing him on the bench for the match.
Just like against PSV last week, Omonia started the game trying to control the tempo in the midfield.
However, it was Granada who fired early when Venezuelan striker Yangel Herrera, on loan from Manchester City, received a pass by Angel Montoro and opened the score in the fourth minute with a fierce left-foot shot from inside the penalty box.
Stunned by the early goal, Omonia struggled to regain confidence, allowing Granada to pass the ball effortlessly around the pitch.
In the 16th minute, Herrera came very close to doubling his team’s lead but his low first-time shot missed the target by mere inches.
Eight minutes later it was Darwin Machis’ turn to threaten Omonia’s goal but his powerful strike set up by Herrera was blocked by Fabiano.
Another blow for the Greens came just before the end of the first half when Michal Duris was shown a second yellow card by Croatian referee Ivan Bebek after a hard foul near the halfway line.
With a man down, Berg made three changes at the start of the second half, bringing in Shehu Abdullahi, Ernest Asante and Ioannis Kousoulos for Jordi Gomez, Eric Bautheac and Fotis Papoulis.
However, it was Granada who deservedly doubled their lead in the 63rd minute through Luis Suarez. A fast counter attack following a lost ball by Omonia in the midfield ended with the Colombian striker putting the ball past Fabiano.
Soon after conceding, the home team tried to respond with Thiago, who replaced Marinos Tzionis in the 68th minute, but Omonia’s first real attempt at goal was blocked by Rui Silva.
The Brazilian forward squandered another good chance five minutes later when he failed to convert from a very comfortable position before the referee blew the final whistle.
