Apollon and Omonia reach Cyprus Cup final after penalty drama

Apollon are through to the Cyprus Cup final after a dramatic penalty shootout victory over holders APOEL at the Tsirion Stadium in Limassol on Wednesday.

Following the 1-1 draw in the first leg in Nicosia two weeks ago, Alex Da Silva gave Apollon a 2-1 aggregate lead when he scored after 44 minutes, but the lead was short-lived, with Giorgos Efrem equalising three minutes later in first-half injury time.

There were no more goals in the second-half, but APOEL were in trouble when Vinicius was red-carded after five minutes of extra time.

Apollon were unable to take advantage of their numerical superiority as the tie finished 2-2 on aggregate, meaning penalties were needed to decide who went through to the final.
AstizNuno Assis saw hit effort saved by Apollon keeper Bruno Vale.

Up stepped Dejan Mezka and he made no mistake, sending the ball past Urko Pardo to send the Apollon fans wild.

The second semi-final between Omonia and AEK also went to a penalty shootout after the tie ended goalless after the two legs.

In front of a partisan home crowd at the GSP Stadium, the Greens scored all five of their spot-kicks to seal a 5-3 victory and advance to the showpiece against Apollon.

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.