Season review 2012–13 APOEL F.C. season

1 season review

1.1 pre-season , friendlies
1.2 cypriot first division

1.2.1 regular season
1.2.2 play–offs


1.3 cypriot cup
1.4 uefa europa league

season review
pre-season , friendlies

the first training session season took place on 11 june 2012 @ apoel s training centre. on 23 june 2012, team flew obertraun in austria perform main stage of pre-season training , returned cyprus on 7 july 2012. during pre-season training stage in austria, apoel played 4 friendly matches against blau-weiss linz, mfk košice, sk sturm graz , sv ried. apoel lost 1–2 blau-weiss linz, drew 1–1 sk sturm graz , won mfk košice 2–0 , sv ried 3–2.

cypriot first division
regular season

on 3 september 2012, apoel opened competitive season 0–5 win @ tasos markou stadium against enosis neon paralimni. aldo adorno scored hat-trick, while gustavo manduca , constantinos charalambides scored 2 more goals apoel. on 16 september 2012, apoel hosted doxa katokopias @ gsp stadium, in match played behind closed doors. apoel won 3–1, aldo adorno scoring twice , efstathios aloneftis adding 1 scoreline. on 22 september 2012, apoel won 1–3 alki @ larnaca, mario budimir, gustavo manduca , aldo adorno scoring 1 goal each. on 30 september 2012, apoel beat apollon limassol 1–0 @ home, aldo adorno scoring winning goal in 79th minute. on 7 october 2012, omonia hosted apoel @ gsp stadium in match ended in goalless draw. on 22 october 2012, apoel won olympiakos nicosia @ home 4–0, 2 goals nuno morais , 1 goal aldo adorno , gustavo manduca. on 27 october 2012, apoel beat nea salamina @ ammochostos stadium 0–3. hélio pinto opened score in first half , efstathios aloneftis came on substitute scored twice in second half. on 5 november 2012, apoel s impressive run continued winning ayia napa 4–1 @ home, hat-trick aldo adorno , goal gustavo manduca. on 11 november 2012, aritz borda s goal gave apoel narrow 0–1 win on ethnikos achna @ dasaki stadium. on 18 november 2012, apoel suffered first league defeat after losing 1–2 @ home aek larnaca , fell out of first place first time during season. albert serrán opened score in first half , hélio pinto equalised in second half before jason demetriou score winner aek. on 26 november 2012, apoel beat reigning champions ael limassol 1–3 @ tsirion stadium , became first team won ael season. hélio pinto opened scoring in 4th minute , ael equalised ten minutes later gustavo manduca in 23rd minute gave apoel lead again. despite apoel playing ten players 30 minutes after aritz borda shown red card in 64th minute, constantinos charalambides scored third goal ten minutes before end give apoel important victory. on 2 december 2012, apoel beat aep paphos 0–2 @ pafiako stadium, 2 goals scored gustavo manduca , selim benachour. on 8 december 2012, apoel suffered second league defeat, losing 0-1 @ home anorthosis , remained in second place, 4 points behind leaders anorthosis. on 15 december 2012, aldo adorno s goal in 76th minute gave apoel narrow 1–0 home win on enosis neon paralimni. on 22 december 2012, apoel won 0–3 @ doxa katokopias, gustavo manduca scoring twice in first half , aldo adorno scoring 1 in second half. on 6 january 2013, apoel drew 1–1 alki larnaca @ home, last-minute equalising goal mário sérgio. on 14 january 2013, apoel faced apollon limassol @ tsirion stadium , won 1–2 last-minute winner. apollon took lead in first half, selim benachour s equaliser in second half , hélio pinto s free-kick winner in 12th minute of added time secured important victory apoel. on 19 january 2013, apoel drew 1–1 against eternal rivals omonia, hélio pinto opening score in first half , omonia equalising after 1 hour of play. on 27 january 2013, gustavo manduca scored twice in second half , helped apoel beat olympiakos nicosia 0–2 @ gsp stadium. on 2 february 2013, apoel got 2–0 home victory against nea salamina, in behind closed doors match. nektarios alexandrou opened scoreline in first half , dudu biton scored on debut 5 minutes after being subbed in 85th minute. on 11 february 2013, apoel record third consecutive 2–0 league win – time on ayia napa @ tasos markou stadium – 2 goals of aritz borda , dudu biton. on 27 february 2013, apoel faced ethnikos achna @ home in behind closed doors match , won 1–0 second half goal dudu biton. on 3 march 2013, apoel beat aek larnaca 0–1 @ gsz stadium, mikkel beckmann netting game s goal long-range effort in 75th minute. so, after 23rd matchweek results, apoel 1 point behind leaders anorthosis. on 9 march 2013, nektarios alexandrou scored twice lead apoel 2–0 home victory on ael limassol , apoel moved first place after 4 months. on 17 march 2013, apoel demolished aep paphos 6–0 @ home, recording 7 consecutive wins without conceding goal , opened three-point gap on second placed team anorthosis. mário sérgio , mikkel beckmann scored apoel s first 2 goals, while dudu biton , constantinos charalambides each scored twice final 6–0 victory apoel. on 31 march 2013, apoel achieved important victory (so far) in season beating second placed team anorthosis 0–2 @ antonis papadopoulos stadium , opened six-point gap rivals. dudu biton gave team lead after 68 minutes of play , nuno morais secured apoel s victory 12 minutes later long range effort.

play–offs

on 6 april 2013, apoel suffered first defeat after 8 straight wins run, losing 3–0 @ omonia in first championship play-off match. same time anorthosis lost 0–3 @ home aek larnaca , apoel remained @ top six-point gap second place. on 13 april 2013, apoel hosted anorthosis , maintained six-point advantage 0–0 draw @ gsp stadium. on 21 april 2013, apoel beat aek larnaca 0–1 @ gsz stadium, mário sérgio s direct free-kick in 63rd minute , opened eight-point gap on second placed team anorthosis drew 0–0 against omonia. on 27 april 2013, apoel lost 0–1 @ home aek larnaca, 1 day later anorthosis lost 4–0 @ omonia , apoel crowned champions 22nd time in history after difficult , harsh season. on 12 may 2013, apoel celebrated 22nd championship title in style impressive 4–3 win on arch rivals omonia , ensured coach ivan jovanović’s last home game memorable one. efstathios aloneftis scored first goal against former club, mario budimir , nuno morais got on score sheet, before gustavo manduca scoring winner in 83rd minute after converting penalty. @ end of match, marinos satsias, constantinos charalambidis , ivan jovanović lifted championship trophy in front of 16,000 fans officially crown apoel cypriot first division champions season. on 18 may 2013, apoel lost @ anorthosis 2–1, while gustavo manduca scored 12th league goal, in apoel s last match of season.

cypriot cup

on 31 october 2012, apoel beat chalkanoras 8–1 @ gsp stadium , qualified second round of 2012–13 cypriot cup. both constantinos charalambides , esteban solari scored hat-trick, while selim benachour , mário sérgio scored 2 more goals apoel. in second round, apoel drawn against ael limassol. in first leg match held on 9 january 2013, apoel won 0–2 @ tsirion stadium goal michael klukowski , own goal edmar. in second leg held @ gsp stadium on 23 january 2013, apoel took lead in 2nd minute of match ael surprisingly managed score 3 goals make 1–3 , qualified quarter-finals on away goals rule after 3–3 aggregate.

uefa europa league

the team finished 2nd in cypriot first division last season , such entered second qualifying round of 2012–13 uefa europa league, drawing slovak club fk senica. apoel qualified next round winning 2–0 (aílton, nektarios alexandrou) @ home , 1–0 (hélio pinto) @ senica. in third qualifying round apoel faced aalesunds fk norway , qualified play-offs winning 2–1 (mário sérgio, efstathios aloneftis) @ home , 1–0 (aldo adorno) @ Ålesund. in play-offs apoel eliminated neftchi baku drawing 1–1 (selim benachour) @ baku , losing 1–3 (selim benachour) unexpectedly @ home.