APOEL’s manager Ivan Jovanovic was a happy man after watching his side sweep Ermis Aradippou aside with a confident attacking display that resulted in a 4-1 away win.
“We wanted to score quick goals and that helped us to play more comfortably in the second half,” he reflected. “Ermis is a team with a great fighting spirit and they need to be congratulated on their attitude. However, it was very important for us that we approached the game as serious as we possibly could and that we kept our focus on a high level throughout.
“The amount of the invested effort … will definitely help us in our upcoming Champions League game with Lyon. Solari did well for us today, but at the end of the day it is his job to score goals … We begun the season last July and I will keep using all players available to me until the end.”
Esteban Solari scored twice, while Nuno Morais and Paulo Jorge added one apiece for the defending champions who will next face Olympique Lyonnais Wednesday evening at the GSP Stadium in Nicosia in the second leg of the UEFA Champions League Last 16. The Cypriot champions will kick-off the game at 9.45pm with a 1-0 first leg deficit.
League leader AEL topped AEK Larnaca 2-0 at the Tsirion Stadium in Limassol, with both goals coming in the last 10 minutes.
“It is important to win so difficult games as we had against AEK who are a very good and experienced team. They played very well offensively but at the same time their defence was spot on,” said AEL’s manager Charalambous Christodoulou.
“Fortunately for us, we had a great finish to the game scoring twice in the last 10 minutes to win. We cannot afford to relax and we must fully focus on our next opponent as there are no easy games in this league.”
AEL top the league standings with 53 points, while Omonia are second with 50. They managed only a 1-1 draw against Ethnikos Achnas at the GSP Stadium in Nicosia after equalising in the eight minute of the injury time. APOEL are third with 49, while Anorthosis have 44 and a game in hand.
Elsewhere, Olympiakos Nicosia beat Aris in Limassol 3-2, while Nea Salamina celebrated a 2-0 win over Enosis in Paralimni. Alki defeated Apollon Limassol 2-1 in Larnaca.
In the final game of Round 23 Anorthosis Ammochostos were to take on Anagennisi Derynias at the Antonis Papadopoulos Stadium late tonight.
