Cyprus round-up: Leading lights still shining

The race for the Cypriot First Division title remained tight after the leading sides both recorded victories on Sunday.

Ouzounides decisive
APOEL Nicosia FC retained their one-point advantage over Omonia Nicosia FC with a 1-0 home win against Ethnikos Achnas FC secured by a 25th-minute header from Marinos Ouzounides - although Achnas went close to grabbing a late equaliser when Christos Poyiatzis hit the post with APOEL goalkeeper Michalis Morfis well beaten.

Rauffmann stays cool
Omonia also struggled to impose themselves and had to come from behind, waiting 75 minutes before winning a penalty which Rainer Marcos Rauffmann converted to seal a 2-1 win. Captain Pambis Andreou had given the home side the lead from the spot moments into the second half and although Omonia answered back six minutes later through Nicolas Georgiou, the game looked set to end in a draw until Rauffmann kept his cool late on.

Neophytou heroics
Anorthosis Famagusta FC kept up the pressure on the top two with a 2-1 win against a stubborn Dighenis Morphou FC side. Dighenis had taken the lead on 27 minutes after Greek midfield player Savvas Poursaitides latched on to a long pass from Stefanos Georgiou to beat goalkeeper Nicos Panagiotou but Anorthosis were back on track with two quick goals
either side of the interval. Bosnian international Vedran Pelic dispatched a thumping header from Marios Neophtyou's corner just before half-time and Neophytou himself scored the goal which proved to be the winner two minutes into the second half.

Seven up
Elsewhere, Sasa Gajser was the hero for Olympiakos Nicosia FC with an 87th-minute goal to sink Enosis Neon Paralimniou 1-0 and AEL Limassol FC recorded their biggest win of the season - a 7-0 victory against Alki Larnaca FC thanks to Luciano de Souza's double and further strikes from Georgos Konstanti, Pambos Pittas, Marios Christodoulou, Jozef Sebok and James D'yia.

Historic victory
In the weekend's other games, AEK Larnaca FC beat Apollon Limassol FC 3-0 and Konstantinos Kissonergis popped up six minutes into added time to give Aris Limassol FC their first win of the season - a 2-1 triumph over AEP Paphos FC. Marios Panagiotou gave Aris an early lead against ten-man AEP before Joel Luphahla equalised early in the second half, paving the way for Kissonergis' heroics.