APOEL coach Ivan Jovanovic was delighted with his side’s 1-0 victory over AEK in the championship playoffs at the GSZ Stadium in Larnaca on Sunday afternoon which opened up a commanding eight-point lead over Anorthosis at the top of the table.
“AEK were better than us today, they moved the ball really well and controlled the match,” said Jovanovic. “I can understand that my players felt a lot of pressure since the match was of great importance to us. In the end we managed to get a great victory and this result may now help us approach the remaining three matches slightly more relaxed,” he added.
Mario Sergio scored the only goal of the match directly from a free kick in the 63rd minute, but the defender will miss Saturday’s reverse fixture through a suspension as he was shown his fourth yellow card of the campaign early in the second half.
“We are very close to mathematically secure the title, but there are four excellent teams in the championship playoffs group and everything is still possible since details decide winners in almost every single match,” Jovanovic concluded.
AEK’s coach Ran Ben Shimon said he was proud of his players: “We did everything right, but in order to win you also need to score goals. We are going through rough times and we need to regroup with three more matches remaining. We will give everything we have in those matches in order to try and secure European football for our club next season.”
APOEL lead the championship playoff group with 70 points, eight points ahead of Anorthosis in second place. Omonia are currently third with 60 points, while AEK are fourth with 58. The top three spots guarantee European presence in 2013-2014.
Elsewhere on Sunday afternoon, in Group 3, Olympiakos topped Ethnikos Achnas 4-2 in Nicosia, while three first half goals, including Bernardo Vasconcelos’ brace, provided Alki with a comfortable 3-1 victory over Nea Salamina away from home. Vasconcelos proved to be vital for Alki this season as his scoring tally is now five goals in the playoffs alone, and is now the league’s top scorer with 16 goals.
Kostas Kaiafas’ Alki now need only one more victory from the remaining three matches to secure their top flight status for the upcoming season as they lead the group with 32 points. On the other hand, Nea Salamina trail the group leaders by eight points, but still have a realistic chance to avoid the drop as Ethnikos Achnas are in third place with 26 points and Olympiakos in second, with 28.