Nations League: Historic win for Cyprus over Greece
Greece dropped its first points in the Nations League going down 1-0 to Cyprus at Larnaca on Saturday. This was the first time ever Cyprus has beaten Greece in a competitive match.
The result means nothing for Greece’s standing in the group, as the Greeks have already won it scoring four wins in as many games before this one. However it was particularly meaningful for Cyprus, as it maintains its hopes of staying in this division.
On the debut of Georgian manager Temuri Ketsbaia on the Cypriot bench, the host played a clever game, dominating play from the 15th to the 45th minute. In that spell Cyprus had two great chances and and found a goal as the Greek defense was all over the place for long periods in the firsh half.
A majestic through ball by Pieros Sotiriou on the 18th minute picked Marinos Tzioni and he slotted the ball past Greece goallie Odysseas Vlachodimos, as the Cypriots got what they truly deserved in the first 45 minutes.
The second half saw Cyprus yield ground as the Greeks tried to find a goal, and fared better after some substitutions.
The closest Greece got to equalizing was a long-range shot by substitute Taxiarchis Fountas that Cyprus keeper Kostas Panayi sent to the crossbar 18 minutes into the second half.
Another sub, Fotis Ioannidis threatened the hosts, but Panayi had the answer again.
Four minutes from the end another long-range shot by Fountas found its way to the net, but it did not count as another Greek player was in an offside position and was deemed to have obstructed Panayi.
