Aris Share Points in First Division Opener
Aris and Apollon Limassol played out a 2-2 draw in the opening round of the First Division at Alfamega Stadium on Friday evening. And here's the thing about these opening fixtures — they tend to expose what a side hasn't yet settled into. By then, both clubs had already accumulated a point from a single game, sitting in sixth and fifth place respectively on the table.
Miłosz Matysik gave Aris the lead in the twelfth minute, a moment that kept his side in it early on. Apollon responded through Garry Rodrigues thirty-nine minutes in, and the match turned when Rody Junior Effaghe converted a penalty in the sixty-sixth minute to restore Aris' advantage. The visitors dragged themselves back through a substitute substitution pattern that saw Charalampos Charalampous and Evangelos Andreou come on together at the eightieth minute, and it was Andreou who completed the turnaround just before full time.
The statistics tell a story of balanced pressure. Aris registered 115 attacks to their opponents' 103, while both sides held possession at 50 percent. Four yellow cards were shown to each team, with Dani Escriche, Giorgos Malekkidis, Steeve Yago, and Anderson Correia among those cautioned for the hosts. Apollon's Gustavo Paje, Evangelos Andreou, Alex Opoku Sarfo, and Gustavo Assunção received the same treatment.
What stands out is how both sides have managed to avoid defeat in their first outing. Aris arrive with a mixed recent record — losses to Union Berlin, Atromitos, and Korona Kielce in friendlies, but victories over Legia Warsaw and AEK Larnaca. Apollon similarly split their friendlies, notably beating Brann 1-0 after a 2-4 defeat, and taking two clean sheets against Dila.
The result means neither side has yet established dominance in the new campaign. One point from one game puts both teams in the running, and there's still plenty of football to be played before anyone can claim the table goes out of the window in these early rounds.