FC Zurich celebrate 1:0 victory in Cyprus
FC Zurich have beaten AEK Larnaca FC 1:0 away tonight and, consequently, have won their first three points of the current UEFA Europa League group stage.
From kick-off, the FC Zurich players were successful at disrupting their opponents‘ build-up and after evenly balanced opening minutes, had their first excellent scoring opportunity in the 15th minute when Stephen Odey got through on the left and slid the ball towards the Larnaca goal, but unfortunately, the ball whizzed past the right post by a few centimeters. Only three minutes later, Kololli’s direct free kick was aimed too high and the ball narrowly flew over the crossbar.
The home side had their best opportunity in the 23rd minute, when Acorán Barrera almost got a chance to put his team in front, but fortunately enough for FC Zurich, Victor Pálsson managed to toe-poke the ball off the striker’s foot at the very last moment to deny Larnaca the lead.
After the half-time break, the score remained goalless until the 61st minute: Antonio Marchesano attempted to play a cross in front of the Larnaca goal when the ball hit Daniel Mojsov on the arm in the box. Referee Jonathan Lardot pointed to the spot and awarded FC Zurich a penalty kick. Kololli converted the penalty without any problems, putting the visitors 1:0 up. Larnaca tried to show a reaction to this deficit; however, they managed to create but a few dangerous opportunities and FC Zurich got to celebrate a well-deserved away win.
Next Sunday afternoon, 23 September 2018, FC Zurich will be hosting FC Lucerne (kick-off 4pm). And on Thursday, 4 October 2018, they will be facing PFC Ludogorets 1945 also at the Letzigrund Stadium in their second Europa League group game (kick-off 6.55pm).
