PAFOS EDGE OMONOIA, OFF TO ROUND OF 16

Pafos FC defeated Omonoia 2-1 on the return leg of the UEFA Conference League knockout round in the first ever all-Cypriot fixture in any European competition. Bruno Felipe capitalized on a rare mistake from the Omonoia goalkeeper Fabiano, Stevan Jovetic briefly had Omonoia on level terms, before Jonathan Silva put Pafos ahead for good. With the 1-1 draw in Nicosia last week, Pafos wins on aggregate by a 3-2 margin. Pafos advance to the Round of 16, and Omonoia are eliminated.

Omonoia visited Pafos FC at Alphamega Stadium in Limassol, as the Stelios Kyriakidis Stadium in Paphos does not meet UEFA standards. The home side had the first shot on goal, Derrick Luckassen worked it low for Vlad Dragomir, but by the time he could get the shot off, he had no angle, and it was an easy save for Fabiano. Not long after, Dragomir set up a chance for Jairo, who curled a nice strike, but mercifully for Omonoia, it nailed the post. Pepe let fly from distance, and Fabiano sprawled out to push it aside for a corner.

Then, inexplicably, the surehanded Brazilian keeper made a serious error, spilling the ball after minimal contact with David Goldar. Bruno Felipe pounced on the loose change, and haunted his old team, slotting the ball home, 1-0 for Pafos in the 28th minute. Fabiano protested that Goldar’s contact should nullify the goal, but VAR ruled in favor of the hosts, and the goal stood.

Pafos did not let up, but Fabiano recovered and stopped chances from Dragomir and Jairo. Then Jairo was able to beat Fabiano, but Amine Khammas was there to clear it off the line. Omonoia were able to limit the halftime damage to just 1-0.

It only took mere seconds for Pafos to double their advantage to start the second half, or so it seemed. Jairo laid off for Jonathan Silva, a simple pass somehow eluded a sea of green shirts and found Dragomir, who had all day, and a lot of net to shoot at, and made no mistake, but VAR called the goal back as Joao Correia was offside.

Then it seemed as though Omonoia had tied it when Willy Semedo rammed one home, but in real time, the flag went up as Loizos Loizou was offside. Then Mateo Maric rang one off the crossbar.

Finally, Omonoia were able to level the match, Andronikos Kakoullis centered in front for Stevan Jovetic, and the veteran from Montenegro hammered a strike past Ivica Ivusic to make it 1-1 on the hour mark.

But just five minutes later, the hosts took the lead back. Correia worked hard to keep the ball in play on the sideline, finally crossed in for Muamer Tankovic, who dropped off for Silva, who with a quick release snuck one off the inside of the post and just over the line. Nikolas Panayiotou got a large piece of it, but still not enough to keep it out, 2-1 for Pafos.

Pafos went in for the kill, Mislav Orsic forced Fabiano to a great save, and Fabiano was able to stop the rebound as well, keeping Omonoia in it for the time being. The closest Omonoia would come to saving themselves was when Kakoullis found Mariusz Stepinski cutting to the net, but Stepinski was unable to get a touch, and Pafos hung on for the 2-1 win.

Pafos FC(Juan Carlos Carcedo): 1. Ivica Ivusic(GK), 77. Joao Correia(’69 17. Mislav Orsic), 23. Derrick Luckassen, 5. David Goldar, 19. Jonathan Silva(’84 12. Ken Sema), 22. Muamer Tankovic, 26. Ivan Sunjic, 88. Pepe, 7. Bruno Felipe(’69 21. Zvonimir Sarlija), 30. Vlad Dragomir, 10. Jairo(Captain)(’73 33. Anderson)

Omonoia(Giannis Anastasiou): 40. Fabiano(GK, Captain), 24. Amine Khammas, 30. Nikolas Panayiotou, 5. Senou Coulibaly, 2. Alpha Diounkou, 7. Willy Semedo, 8. Stevan Jovetic, 20. Mateo Maric(’76 14. Mariusz Stepinski), 80. Novica Erakovic, 75. Loizos Loizou(’76 99. Saidou Alioum), 9. Andronikos Kakoullis

Andrew Mantzas

Twitter: @MantzasNC