Apollon crushed AE Larnaca 6-0 in the First Division's second round of the regular season on Saturday evening. The result at home extended Apollon's momentum after a difficult start to their campaign. By then, the visitors had already stumbled in their opening fixture.
Marquinhos opened the scoring in the tenth minute, catching AE Larnaca off-guard. F. Pedrozo doubled the lead with a penalty in the twenty-first, though he had seen a goal cancelled by VAR just minutes earlier. Apollon kept knocking on the door and the visitors could not find a way back.
And here's the thing about this match — Cafu's red card in the fifty-sixth minute changed everything. AE Larnaca were reduced to ten men and the game opened up completely. Apollon capitalised with K. Stafylidis finding the net in the sixty-first before Gabriel Maioli added another in the seventy-ninth.
F. Pedrozo completed his brace in the eighty-fourth and F. Perez sealed the rout in stoppage time. The hosts had nothing to do all evening after the dismissal. AE Larnaca simply could not contain the pressure with a man down.
The statistics tell the story of a one-sided encounter. Apollon held 62 per cent possession and registered nine shots on target compared to AE Larnaca's four. The visitors managed only three attacks in comparison and failed to win a single corner.
Both sides sit on three points after two matches but the gap between them feels wider now. Apollon move up to fifth place while AE Larnaca remain seventh. The result suggests the hosts can raise the tempo when they need to, but AE Larnaca have hit a wall.
