LARNACA, Cyprus (AP) — Cyprus climbed out of last place in its World Cup qualifying group Saturday with a 2-1 win over Georgia.
Michael Costantinou gave Cyprus the lead in the 33rd minute after picking up a through ball from midfielder Chrysostomos Michail and fending off a defender to slot the ball past diving goalkeeper Giorgi Lomaia.
Dimitris Christofi made it 2-0 in the 56th when he redirected a shot by Marinos Satsias from the top of the box, lobbing the ball over Lomaia and into the top right corner of net.
Georgia pulled a goal back in the 71st when captain Levan Kobiasvili converted a penalty.
Both teams got off to a nervous start with few scoring chances for either side in the first half.
