Anorthosis and APOEL progressed into the third qualifying round of the UEFA Europa League after 6-1 and 3-0 aggregate victories over FC Levadia Tallinn and FK Senica respectively.

Ronny Levy’s men had a 3-1 lead from the first leg and had no difficulties seeing off Estonian representatives 3-0 at Larnaca’s Antonis Papadopoulos Stadium Thursday evening.

Toni Calvo opened proceedings after only 13 minutes when he ran down the right flank and tried to find Giannis Okkas on the second post. While his pass was way ahead of Okkas, the experienced striker still managed to flick it past Roman Smishko and the Spaniard tapped the ball into an empty net. Okkas thereafter netted to make it 2-0 four minutes before the interval. Colombian midfielder Ricardo Laborde set up the final score in the 62nd minute, placing the ball in the net after Smishko initially saved Juliano Spadacio’s effort.

APOEL had a somewhat more complicated job in Slovakia, but they eventually prevailed 1-0 as Helio Pinto scored the winner 17 minutes from time. Ivan Jovanovic’s team had a 2-0 advantage after the first leg in Nicosia last week, and their outstanding game plan won them another victory against the solid Slovakian outfit.

In the third qualifying round Anorthosis will take on Georgian side FC Dalia Gori, who overcame AGF Aarhus of Denmark 5-2 on aggregate in their second round encounter, while APOEL face Norwegian team Aalesunds FK, who dismantled KF Tirana of Albania 5-0 in the second leg to secure a 6-1 aggregate win.

The first legs are set for next Thursday with Anorthosis travelling to Georgia, while APOEL host Aalesunds at the GSP Stadium in the Cypriot capital.

Cyprus Mail