Omonia Nicosia beat Celta Vigo 1-0 at the GSP Stadium on Wednesday evening to open their UEFA Europa League league stage campaign with three points, while the Spanish side are left without a point from their first outing.
The match was goalless at half-time. It took until deep into the second half for the deadlock to be broken, when J. Balkovec struck in the 88th minute to settle the contest and hand Omonia a narrow but decisive victory.
The result leaves Omonia Nicosia in sixth place in the 34-team Europa League table after the opening matchday, with three points from their single game played. Their goals record stands at 1-0, and they sit in the top third of the table.
Celta Vigo, by contrast, find themselves in 33rd position — placing them in the bottom two of the table — with no points, no goals scored and one conceded from their one game played. The two sides are separated by three points in the standings.
For Omonia, the victory rounds off what has been a varied recent run, their last five results reading a win, a win, a defeat, a win and a draw coming into this European opener. The Nicosia side take maximum points from matchday one of the league stage.