Cyprus round-up: Late drama in Larnaca

There was no shortage of action in Cyprus on Saturday as Division A got under way again following the Christmas break, the main drama coming in an explosive 1-1 draw between AEK Larnaca FC and league leaders APOEL Nicosia FC.

Profligate finishing
APOEL looked to have paid the penalty for missing a host of chances. Greek striker Elias Solakis, Constantinos Charalambides and Sinisa Gogic had all wasted decent goalscoring opportunities before AEK scored against the run of play in the 89th minute. Captain Stelios Stylianides collected a fine Kokos Elias pass from the left and placed his shot beyond goalkeeper Michalis Morfis.

Deserved equaliser
APOEL, however, refused to buckle and got the equalising goal their endeavour deserved when Cypriot international defender Demetris Daskalakis cannoned the ball home from close range following a scramble in the AEK area in the fourth minute of injury time.

Resignation of coach
Anorthosis Famagusta FC did not let Friday's resignation of coach Yannis Mantzourakis affect their game as they beat Apollon Limassol FC 4-2 at the Antonis Papadopoulos stadium in Larnaca. Marios Neophytou put the hosts in front with a wonderful individual goal on 14 minutes before Christos Velis fired home from close range to double his side's advantage ten minutes later. Anorthosis looked to have wrapped up the three points on the half hour when Polish striker Wojciech Kowalczyk made it 3-0 from the penalty spot.

Apollon fight back
Viktor Zubarev and Marios Panagiotou both registered to haul Apollon back into the game, but Kyriakos Koursaros made sure the win when scoring his first goal of the season and Anorthosis's fourth of the game deep into injury time.

Goals galore
AEP Paphos FC recorded their biggest win of the season with a 6-3 defeat of Ethnikos Ashias FC. Goals from Andros Stephanou (2), Christos Hadjiconstantis, Argyris Petrou, Levan Mahradze and Savvas Zoetsas sealed the points for the hosts with captain Georgos Savvas (2) and Nicos Andreou on target for Ashias.
 
Late winning goal
Second-placed AEL Limassol FC had to rely on a headed goal from Alexis Garbozis five minutes from time to beat bottom side Ermis Aradippos FC 2-1 after seeing two penalties saved by Ermis goalkeeper Stelios Stylianou. Tommis Chrysostomou put AEL ahead with a powerful header from Angelos Missos's inviting cross in the 34th minute. Costas Theodorou equalised for Ermis in the 61st minute either side of missed spot-kicks from Vladan Tomic and Chrysis Michael before Garbozis struck late on.

Olympiakos struggle
Olympiakos Nicosia FC were also made to work by relegation-threatened opposition, eventually running out 3-2 winners at home to Doxa Katokopia FC. Doxa took the lead in the 37th minute through Panagiotis Fasouliotis but goals from Demetris Assiotis, Angelos Tsolakis and Yugoslavian Sava Radosavljev proved enough to render Christos Panagiotou's late goal academic. The day's other game saw Enosis Neon Paralimni FC and Ethnikos Achnas FC play out a scoreless draw.