Greece 2 - 0 Cyprus: Greece lightning strikes twice against Cyprus

Posted Saturday, October 08, 2016 by PA

Greece made it two wins from as many World Cup Group H qualifiers following a 2-0 derby victory over Cyprus at a wet Karaiskakis Stadium.

First-half goals from Kostas Mitroglou and Petros Mantalos helped the hosts follow up their 4-1 win in Gibraltar last time out.

The match, involving two teams with the same national anthem, was the subject of a pitch inspection ahead of kick-off following a heavy downpour.

After the referee gave it the go-ahead, it took only 12 minutes for Greece to open the scoring through Mitroglou.

The former Fulham striker netted his second goal in two qualifiers, firing a left-footed shot into the bottom corner from the edge of the box following Kostas Fortounis' cutback.

Cyprus only had themselves to blame for heading into half-time 2-0 behind following a howler from Konstantinos Panagi.

The goalkeeper, advancing towards the edge of his penalty area, rolled the ball out straight to Mantalos and the midfielder lobbed into the empty net.

The visitors took a foothold of the game in the second half but were unable to trouble Greece, meaning they are yet to score this campaign.