Ajax fans will be leaving Cyprus disappointed after a debatable penalty earned hosts APOEL a point.

The Dutch champions started brightly, and should of been ahead with less than 180 seconds on the clock, as Kolbeinn Sigthorsson had only Pardo to beat, but fired wide from Davy Klassen's neat pass. Many would of thought this would of been a wake up call to APOEL, who were backed by a loud and consistent crowd, but minutes later Sigthorsson was inches away from converting Klaassen's low cross. Not the type of finishing expected from a man who scored a hat-trick at the weekend.

Rather surprisingly, APOEL seemed to opt a low tempo game, as they sat off Ajax and watched as the Amsterdam side moved it from left to right, but the hosts seemed very focused and with all eleven men behind the ball at times, rarely looked like being broken down.

With 27 minutes gone, the wall of yellow that Ajax had struggled to break down had caved in, the two centre-backs, Carlao and Amorin both stepped up, but the fullbacks where not in tandem and Lasse Schone broke the offside trap only to see his shot blocked by Pardo, but Danish youngster Lucas Andersen smartly finished the rebound.

This was the first goal the Cypriots had conceded at the Neo-GSP this season, and it clearly didn't faze them as 2 minutes later the had a chance to score from the penalty spot. Ricardo Van Rhijn was adjudged to of handled Alonetfis' cross, and Manduca finished it from 12 yards to Jasper Cillessen's right hand side. APOEL were very unlucky not to lead at the break, with Sheridan going agonisingly close.

This was the height of the game, with the next hour of football being very tense, with both sides knowing they needed to score, but at the same time, couldn't afford to concede. Late on in the game, Thulani Serero had the best chance of the second half, going oh so ever close to sending his side home with 3 points. Both sides know this doesn't do them many favours in terms of qualification hopes, and on their flight back to Amsterdam, Ajax fans can only ponder on a night that could of been successful.