APOEL have been mathematically crowned champions of Cyprus for the 22nd time in their history after their closest title rivals Anorthosis Famagusta were thumped 4-0 by Omonia on Sunday.
Ivan Jovanovic’s side, who seven points above second place Omonia with two games left to go, were expected to celebrate the league title on Saturday with victory over AEK Larnaca in their end-of-season playoff encounter but AEK’s Alex da Silva crashed the party on 78 minutes with a brilliant drive from distance to secure the visitors a dramatic 1-0 victory. Anorthosis’ only chance to pip APOEL to the league title was to win their remaining three games but Charalambos Christodoulou’s charges capped off a disappointing last two months with the humbling defeat by Omonia who also moved above the Famagusta club into second place.
Omonia took an early lead through Andre Alves before late goals from Andre Schembri, Nuno Asis and Alves again completed the rout for Toni Savevski’s side.
Jovanovic has secured his fourth league title with APOEL following previous successes in 2004, 2009, 2011 and 2013 while the 49-year-old Serbian coach also made history last season when he guided the Cypriot club to the quarter-finals of the Champions League.
APOEL’s Israeli on-loan striker Dudu Biton later tweeted, “We are the champions – my friends !…from -6 in january to +8.im so proud and happy..we fully deserve it as a team and as a club..”
Captain Constantinos Charalambides, meanwhile, posted a picture of his two children holding the league title trophy over the words “We deserved it!”.
Anorthosis, AEK and Omonia will now battle it out in their remaining two games in a bid to clinch the two Europa League berths.
In the relegation battle at the bottom, Alki secured their status in the first division next season despite going down 2-1 at home Nea Salamina. Ethnikos beat Olympiakos 3-1 to leave everything open between Salamina, Ethnikos and Olympiakos with two games left to go.
First Division Championship 2012/2013 – |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 Competition Day | |||||
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| Saturday, 27 April 2013 | |||||
| APOEL NICOSIA | 0 | 1 | AEK LARNAKAS | ||
| Sunday, 28 April 2013 | |||||
| OMONIA NICOSIA | 4 | 0 | ANORTHOSIS FAMAGUSTA | ||
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First Division Championship 2012/2013 – |
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| 4 Competition Day | |||||
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| Saturday, 27 April 2013 | |||||
| AEL LIMASSOL | 3 | 0 | DOXA KATOKOPIA | ||
| ENOSIS NEON PARALIMNIOU FC | 0 | 1 | APOLLON LIMASSOL | ||
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First Division Championship 2012/2013 – |
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| 4 Competition Day | |||||
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| Sunday, 28 April 2013 | |||||
| ALKI LARNAKAS | 1 | 2 | NEA SALAMIS FC | ||
| ETHNIKOS ACHNAS | 3 | 1 | OLYMPIAKOS NICOSIA | ||
First Division Championship 2012/2013 |
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| A | B | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | APOEL NICOSIA | 30 | 70 | ||
| 2 | OMONIA NICOSIA | 30 | 63 | ||
| 3 | ANORTHOSIS FAMAGUSTA | 30 | 62 | ||
| 4 | AEK LARNAKAS | 30 | 61 | ||
| 5 | AEL LIMASSOL | 30 | 58 | ||
| 6 | APOLLON LIMASSOL | 30 | 47 | ||
| 7 | DOXA KATOKOPIA | 30 | 35 | ||
| 8 | ENOSIS NEON PARALIMNIOU FC | 30 | 31 | ||
| 9 | ALKI LARNAKAS | 30 | 32 | ||
| 10 | ETHNIKOS ACHNAS | 30 | 29 | ||
| 11 | OLYMPIAKOS NICOSIA | 30 | 28 | ||
| 12 | NEA SALAMIS FC | 30 | 27 | ||
Cyprus Weekly
