WORLD CUP 2010 QUALIFYING GROUP EIGHT Cyprus 4 Bulgaria 1:CYPRUS BEAT Bulgaria 4-1 in Larnaca on Saturday after dominating a fast-paced match.
Konstantinos Charalampidis of local champions APOEL Nicosia opened the scoring in the 11th minute after taking a cross from the left from Efstathios Aloneftis. He scored again in the 20th minute from the edge of the box.
Bulgaria struck back on the stroke of half-time when Manchester United striker Dimitar Berbatov scored after taking a cross from the right from Blagoy Georgiev.
Georgiev missed two other chances, in the eighth and 53rd minutes, hitting the post on both occasions.
Michael Konstantinou took advantage of a mistake by Ivan Ivanov to increase the hosts’ lead in the 58th minute with a volley from close range.
Aloneftis finished off the game with a goal from a through ball by Charalampidis in the 78th minute.
Bulgaria goalkeeper Dimitar Ivankov is facing six weeks on the sidelines after breaking a bone in his leg during the match.
The 33-year-old Bursaspor stopper was immediately taken to hospital after being carried off on a stretcher following a second-half collision with Michalis Constantinou. Bulgaria’s defeat ended their interest in the group.
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