Luxembourg VS Cyprus Match Analysis and Ratings

Luxembourg VS Cyprus Match Analysis and Ratings

By Steve Kountourou

Clash of Titans 

Cyprus Needed to bounce back after two disappointing performances in their last set of Nations League fixtures. The opponent that stood in their way, the mighty Luxembourg. A victory would mean Cyprus finally returning on the right path, defeat would be the ultimate embarrassment to a side that, while also a smaller nation, is not on the same level of Cyprus in my opinion. Cyprus started the game brightly despite having less possession and pressured the Luxembourg defence in the first 10 minutes or so.

 However against the run of play disaster struck as Luxenburg took the lead with 12 minutes on the clock, a terrible start. Cyprus continued to try to find an equaliser but would lose the ball in key areas, just like their last few games, to which Luxenburg then attempted a fast counter attack. It eventually paid off for the home side as on the 26th minute a counter attack saw Luxemburgs first shot parried by Kyriakides and into the path of a second player who slotted the ball easily home to make it 2-0. Despite staring into the jaws of a very embarrassing defeat, Cyprus lacked urgency to get back into the game even in the first half and too much passing in the final third a lack of shots on goal was soaked up easily by Luxenburg. On the stroke of half time Cyprus was saved from conceding a 3rd goal after it was disallowed for offside, keeping them in a game they looked certain to lose either way. 

The second half saw Luxemburg sit back and defend their lead against a Cyprus side that was already bereft of ideas on how to one pass and two score. Despite substitutions being made in the early part of the second half it did not do much to improve Cyprus hopes for a comeback at first. Passing the hour mark Cyprus had one of their first positive attacks since the beginning of the match and started to pile pressure on again with a shot going just wide from Christofi. Despite their best efforts the awa sides chances of getting anything from this game began slipping away with every passing minute despite their attacking threat improving. A late cross from Christofi was narrowly missed by Sotiriou but the Astana forward was ruled out for offside. Minutes later Christofi thought he had scored after his half volley just hit the post and bounced back out only for Sotiriou to cannon the rebound over the bar, Cyprus last hope at a very late comeback. With the match ending 2-0 I can honestly say this is the worst I have seen Cyprus play for a long time. Three losses, no goals scored and five conceded in 3 games. With the next game against Azerbaijan in a couple of days I have little hope for anything different, unless there's a change of manager.

Here are my match ratings for every player and the manager.

Starting XI Ratings 

Charalambos Kyriakides 5.5

Had a shaky start to the game, was caught unawares with the early goal but kept out of harm from a couple of rareluxenbrugs counter attacks. Saved a thunderbolt of a shot half way through the first half. Parried a shot straight into the path of a Luxenburg player for their second goal of the game. He was not at fault for any of the goals I feel, as his defence did not cover him at all and he did his best to keep Cyprus in the game.

Ioannis Kousoulos 4.5

No communication between him and his team mates, when passing when in their box, looked half asleep as he and his defensive partners made Luxmeburg look like Barcelona. 

Antreas Karo 4

Was just as static as his team mates at the back, kept fowling opposition in dangerous parts of the pitch led to some dangerous chances for the home side. Was subbed off for Alex Gogic not long before the hour mark.

Kostas Laifis 4.5

Lacked real urgency when Luxenburg counter attacked and was the sole reason for conceding two in the first half after losing the ball to a quick counter, the Standard Liege defender made this opposition attack look far better than they actually are.

Christos Wheeler 5

Was unable to prevent Luxemburg from constantly pushing him down his end and left so much space while he played high up the pitch, not a great one from him today. Was subbed off for Thomas Ioannou in the 52nd minute.

Demetris Christofi 6

Was one of the more positive parts of the team, made some decent attacking runs down the right hand side but most of them did not come to much as Cyprus passing the final third was poor. Improved in the second half and made a nuisance of himself when Cyprus found some decnet attacking play.

Kostakis Artymatas 4

Struggled to cover his defence in the middle of the park, passing was quite negative from him. Hardly saw him in the match at all other than once Cyprus had conceded. Was subbed off for Charalambos Kyriakou in the 75th minute.

Grigoris Kastanos 5

Looked lack-luster when on the ball. A lot of his attempted passes went straight to the opposition. Was lucky that Luxemburgs third goal was ruled out for offside after being at fault for giving the ball away which led to the attempt. Started to improve in the last third of the game and looked more effective in attack with a nice pass to set up a dangerous shot from Pittas.

Ioannis Pittas 5.5

Started the game on the RM but in a slightly more defensive position to which Pittas is accustomed to and it really showed. Despite being ok in attack he was constantly caught unawares on the counter. Was Subbed off for Loizos Louziou with 15 minutes to go. 

Marinos Tzionis 5

While he started positively, Tzonis eventually started to fade away into the match as Cypriot attacks were thwarted by their opponents. Was subbed off for Minas Antoniou in the 51st minute. 

Pieros Sotiriou 6

Was exciting to watch in the first ten minutes and looked close to scoring. After his side conceded however he eventually became anonymous in the game as he was not provided anything to follow on from with his teammates passing rather poorly. Missed a shot late on that would have been huge for Cyprus to salvage something late on.

Substitutes 

Minas Antoniou 5

Did not really notice he was on the pitch at first, other than his substitution. Did not really impact the game with anything meaningful. Made a couple of runs which were easily stopped by the opposition defence. 

 

Thomas Ioannou 5.5

Gave Cyprus more defensive stability after he was subbed on. Was able to stifle most of the counters from the home side.

Alex Gogic 6

Immediately solidified Cyprus more in midfield once he arrived in the game, played simpler passes and helped Cyprus attempt to get back into the game, probably should have started.

Loizos Loizou N/A

Was brought on too late to really impact the game, another who should have started really given his form.

Charalambos Kyriakou

Looked more solid than his predecessor but did not have much to do other than that as he was introduced rather late.

Manager Rating Johan Walem 4

Started his side with an ambitious 3-4-2-1 formation, which was quite an attacking set up. I would have played 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3 so that Cyprus would have been less susceptible to counter attacks which is how they conceded both goals in the first half. Despite his substitutes improving the overall team performance in the second half a little bit, and this is not something I say very often, losing to Luxembourg to me is a sackable offence and despite Cyprus being a small country also, he should be more than capable of beating the likes of their opponents. For me this experiment might have failed before it has even properly started. 

Hellas Football 

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