APOEL survived an early scare in their Champions League qualifying campaign, scraping through the second round via the away goals rule with a nervous 1-1 draw in Skopje over FK Vardar on Tuesday night.
Though their performances over the two matches must beg serious questions over their group stage credentials, Tomas De Vincenti’s goal on 60 minutes was enough to see them through to the third round, though a late equalizer from Blagoja Ljamcevski had APOEL pulses racing.
APOEL boss Domingos Paciencia kept faith in young Pieros Sotiriou up front and handed Brazilian winger Vander, who recently joined from AEK Larnaca, his debut.
The duo combined well to create the best chance of the opening 15 minutes but Sotiriou’s strike was excellently stopped by the hero of the first leg, goalkeeper Tomas Pacovski. The 33-year-old keeper made a series of saves in Nicosia to keep the sides level and looked to be in similar mood in the early exchanges.
Buoyed by an unsavoury moment between Pacovski and the APOEL fans in the first leg, the home supporters were keen to make life as difficult as possible for the Cypriot side, jeering and whistling the visitors whenever in possession of the ball.
It took 29 minutes for Vardar to muster their first decent chance as a devilish cross into the box by Juan Felipe wreaked havoc in the penalty area and a fortunate ricochet off Boban Grncharov almost crept over Boy Waterman in the APOEL goal.
Vardar’s sniff at goal riled the supporters and sparked a mini siege on the APOEL goal just before the break, with the Cypriots looking shaken and needing the half-time whistle to regain their compsure.
Despite being strong favourites and with a wealth of Champions League experience, APOEL looked out of sorts and struggled to control the game. Yet, an age-old cliché in football insists that a sign of a big team is when one can win without playing well, and that would prove the case for APOEL on Tuesday.
Exactly on the hour mark came the vital breakthrough, via the most unlikely of circumstances. APOEL playmaker Tomas de Vincenti, who had been non-existent throughout the tie, managed to squeeze his shot under Pacovski who had, until his huge error, been almost impregnable over the two matches.
Though it was Vardar who were in need of finding the net, it was APOEL who looked more likely from then on to grab the next goal as they had a handful of chances to put the game beyond any doubt but De Vincenti and Luis Leal spurned golden chances to double their lead late on which would set up a grandstand finish.
Ljamcevski’s deflected strike deep into stoppage time made it 1-1 to give Vardar late hope and to spark nerves among the APOEL backline. Vardar needed one more to progress due to the away goals rule and though everybody was forward in the final minutes but APOEL stood firm, just about, to seal qualification.
Albeit in unconvincing fashion, APOEL hung on to book their place in the next round and will now face Danish side FC Midtjylland with the first leg set to take place next week.
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