Omonia find chink in Anorthosis armour

AC Omonia coach Nedim Dudić admitted his side "were a little fortunate" as an added-time free-kick from Efstathios Aloneftis brought an end to Anorthosis Famagusta FC's two-year unbeaten home record in Cyprus on Sunday.

Awkward bounce
Anorthosis had not lost a league game at home since going down 2-0 against Omonia on 27 January 2007, a sequence of 28 matches, but lost by 2-1 on Sunday against the same opponents. Aloneftis opened the scoring from the penalty spot for Omonia but a free-kick from Brazilian substitute Sávio levelled the scores. However, there was to be a late twist as Aloneftis' long-range effort eluded Anorthosis goalkeeper Zoltán Nagy after bouncing just in front of him.

Third place
The result leaves titleholders Anorthosis, who made history this season by becoming the first Cypriot team to qualify for the UEFA Champions League group stage, four points behind leaders Omonia and APOEL FC. "We didn't have time to respond to the second goal," said coach Temuri Ketsbaia. "It's disappointing to lose a big game at home but we have to look forward."

'A little fortunate'
Dudić, whose expensively-assembled side had lost a crucial game against APOEL last weekend, added: "It was a classic, tough game between two very good sides. In the first half we knew what we needed to do. We had three or four very good chances but we were also disciplined and organised and didn't allow Anorthosis to cause us any major problems. In the second half, they pressured us and equalised but we got our balance back as the game went on. OK, we were a little fortunate at the end but I still believe that we deserved to win."