Zurich 3 : 1 Apollon Limassol FC - Chikhaoui double helps sink Apollon
Posted Friday, November 28, 2014 by PA
Yassine Chikhaoui scored twice from the penalty spot to down Apollon Limassol and keep FC Zurich's Europa League hopes alive.
The Swiss side finish their Group A campaign with a shootout against Borussia Monchengladbach, and go into that match having swept aside their Cypriot opponents 3-1 at the Letzigrund.
Apollon had taken a the lead through Brazilian forward Rosa but Berat Djimsiti levelled and Chikhaoui's cool head guaranteed all three points.
The first 20 minutes was a scrappy affair, with neither side managing a shot on target.
Abraham Guie set a trend in the second minute when he fired over the Zurich bar from 20 yards, with Zurich trio Franck Etoundi, Chikhaoui and Davide Chiumiento all failing to hit the target with attempts of their own.
It all changed when Rosa collected Fotis Papoulis's pass and bent a superb effort into the top corner from outside the area to give Apollon the lead.
Zurich's response took less than 10 minutes to fashion.
It was a fine passing move, cranking up a gear when Marco Schonbachler found Chiumiento, who touched it on for Djimsiti.
The Albanian had only Bruno Vale to beat and did so without a second's hesitation.
By the interval, the home side had nudged in front.
Vale was penalised for fouling Schonbachler and, although he guessed right from the resulting penalty, Chikhaoui had him beaten.
The Tunisian earned himself another chance from 12 yards just before the hour mark when he was felled by Angelis Charalambous.
Again Vale picked the right side and again it did no good.
Chikhaoui soon had chances to complete his hat-trick, meeting two corners in as many minutes but heading both over the crossbar.
Vale kept the scoreline down when he used his feet to deny Chiumiento and that was as close as either side came before the final whistle.
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