Europa: Nijmegen beat Omonia Nicosia 3-1 in comeback win
Dutch side, NEC Nijmegen came from behind to secure a 3-1 victory over Omonia Nicosia in Thursday’s UEFA Europa League encounter, recording their second consecutive win in the competition.
Omonia made a bright start and nearly took the lead inside the opening minute when Jaden Montnor’s close-range header was kept out by NEC goalkeeper Gonzalo Crettaz.
The visitors continued to threaten before Lois Diony eventually broke the deadlock in the 23rd minute.
Diony finished from 10 yards after receiving a chipped pass from Panagiotis Andreou, putting the Cypriot side ahead.
NEC responded with increased attacking pressure, and Ayodele Thomas came close to equalising when his effort from a tight angle struck the crossbar.
The hosts eventually drew level five minutes after the restart through Bryan Linssen, who headed home Tjaronn Chery’s corner in the 50th minute.
Both teams subsequently searched for a winning goal, but clear-cut opportunities were limited until NEC produced a decisive late double to settle the contest.
Substitute Dusan Tadic’s effort was parried by Omonia goalkeeper Thomas Kaminski, but Clement Bischoff reacted quickest to fire home the rebound and give NEC the lead.
Linssen then completed the comeback two minutes later, converting Tadic’s through ball to seal his side’s 3-1 victory and register his fourth goal in European competition.
The result moved NEC Nijmegen up to 11th in the Europa League standings with seven points from their opening four matches, having recovered from a 5-0 defeat to Juventus in their opening fixture.
Omonia, meanwhile, suffered their second successive defeat in the competition and dropped to 17th position with four points.
