Having played 120 minutes of game, and 14 penalty kicks in the Cup Final, Omonia of Nicosia has won the 15th Cup in its history.
After a 5-4 penalty shootout victory over Ethnikos Achnas at the GSP Stadium on Wednesday night Omonia celebrated the winning of the Cup despite having Shehu Abdullahi sent off after only five minutes.
The regular time and the extra time of the final ended up 0-0. At the penalties the Brazilian goalkeeper of Omonia gave the trophy to his team with two interventions in the executions of Zakpa and Peratikos. Fabiano was awarded as the MVP of the final. The young player of the greens, scored in the last penalty and let the celebrations of the thousands of fans to begin.
As regards the game, the plans of the two coaches changed drastically from the 5th minute when Ethnikos gained a numerical advantage after Omonia was left with ten players after marking by Seho on Vojkowski. Seho was booked with a red card and everything in the game changed.
Ethnikos gained advantage and lost important chances to score in the 47th minute with Ioannou, in the 58th and 61st with Mazourek and in the 78th with Koudombiak. On her part, after the first shock of having lost a player, Omonia played well and balanced the game, having missed some good chances to score, with a highlight of the two chances with Kakoullis in the 87th and 90+2 minute of the match.
At extra time the two teams just tried to score but power and passion prevailed in the efforts of the football players. As a result, good chances for a goal were minimal. The highlight of the extra time was Peleas foul kick that hit Omonia’s post.
The 0-0 led both teams in the penalties with Fabiano becoming once again the big protagonist, saving the penalties of Zakpa and Peratikos. The young Charalambous of Omonia, scored in the seventh and last penalty for his team, making the 5-4 for Omonia.
The cup winners will start their European journey from the Europa League playoffs, while if they do not qualify they have a secured place in the Europa Conference League groups, with revenues of 3 million euros.
The fans of the greens celebrated winning the Cup starting from GSP Stadium and continuing in the streets of Nicosia and other cities of Cyprus.
Source: Cyprus News Agency