Cyprus: APOEL stay ahead

A 2-0 win against Ethnikos Ashias FC on Saturday kept APOEL Nicosia FC at the top of Cyprus's Division A.

Solakis on target
Two goals in the second half from Greek striker Elias Solakis saw the league leaders ease to victory. The former Panahaiki GC striker prodded home Zacharias Charalambous's corner in the 48th minute and then beat goalkeeper Andreas Loukrides after collecting a Kostas Charalambides through-ball deep into added time.

AEL stay in touch
AEL Limassol FC kept themselves in contention for the league title with a 2-1 win away to relegation strugglers Doxa Katokopia FC in their round-ten game. Georgos Constanti’s 17th-minute penalty following a foul on Swedish striker Jorgen Walemark paved the way for AEL’s victory, with captain Rickos Christophi making it 2-0 just before half-time with a powerful header. Nicos Magnitis restored hope for Doxa in the 64th minute after his free-kick took an awkward bounce in front of goalkeeper Athos Chrysostomou and somehow wound up in the net.

AEK go fourth
AEK Larnaca FC defeated Alki FC in the Larnaca derby with Louis Eleftheriou’s 15th-minute strike separating the two sides in a bad-tempered match. Eleftheriou got on to the end of Stelios Sofocleou’s curling corner in the 15th minute to fire past Michalis Shimitras for his ninth goal of the season. Antonis Antoniou and Zoran Stjepanovic both went close to grabbing an equalizer for Alki.

Omonia win at Achnas
A hard-earned 2-1 victory away to Ethnikos Achnas FC saw Omonia FC continue to improve under new coach Andreas Mouskallis. Close-range efforts from Akis Ioakim and Gunter Thiebaut gave the Cypriot champions the victory with Czech Jan Pejsa getting Achnas's in the 39th minute from Borje Gjurev’s corner. Omonia were reduced to ten men after captain Kostas Kaiafas was sent off in added time.

Zoetsas on hand
Savvas Zoetsas’s injury-time strike denied Toni Savevski his first win with his new club Apollon Limassol FC as AEP Paphos FC salvaged a 2-2 draw at the Tsirion Athletic Center. Apollon took a deserved 2-0 lead thanks to goals from Milenko Spoljaric and Viktor Zubarev. However, AEP hit back in the 30th minute as Argyris Petrou was left unmarked in the Apollon area to head past Sofronis Avgoustis. The game looked to be beyond AEP until Zoetsas struck to send the 400 travelling Paphos supporters wild.