MATIAS Degra saved his fifth penalty of the season to help AEL secure a narrow 1-0 win over Anorthosis in the first leg of the Cyprus Coca Cola Cup quarter-finals on Wednesday evening at the Tsirion Stadium in Limassol.
This is the second time this year that the Argentine goalkeeper has kept out Vincent Laban’s penalty after saving the Frenchman’s shot in mid-February when his team celebrated a 1-0 victory in Round 20 of the national championship – claiming their first win at the Antonis Papadopoulos stadium in Larnaca in decades.
“It was a very difficult game and I did not expect to see good football in this weather,” said AEL manager Charalambous Christodoulou.
“We played well and probably could have scored another goal, but they also had their chances to find an equaliser.
“Now we focus fully on our league clash with Apollon this weekend. To get a positive result from that game we will have to be at our best,” added Christodoulou.
Ivory Coast forward Vouho scored the winner for AEL from the penalty spot eighteen minutes from time after Cape Verde defender Janicio Martins handled from close range.
“We are disappointed with the result, but pleased with our performance. I am very happy with my players’ efforts in not allowing AEL to dictate play,” said Anorthosis manager Ronny Levy.
Two more first legs were played on Wednesday with Omonia thrashing Ermis Aradippou 6-0 at the GSP Stadium in Nicosia and AEK edging Alki 1-0 at the GSZ Stadium in Larnaca.
“We wanted a positive result with a clean sheet that would give us good advantage ahead of the second leg and we managed to achieve that,” said Omonia manager Neophytos Larkou.
“We were very serious in our approach and very efficient. Now we focus on our next league game this Saturday against Enosis Neon Paralimni.
“We must keep the same level of performance which would provide us with another victory,” Larkou added.
The huge first leg advantage will see Omonia in the semi-finals barring a miraculous comeback from Ermis. However, the Nicosia giants lost their leading striker Freddy who had to be replaced after only 20 minutes and was immediately treated in one of the local hospitals for a knee injury.
He will definitely miss this weekend’s game, but there is a chance he will be ready for the derby with arch-rivals APOEL next Friday.
