Late Faroes own goal hands Cyprus share of spoils

Cyprus 2 Faroe Islands 2

Thorsteinsson put through his own net nine minutes from time when trying to clear after goalkeeper Jakup Mikkelsen had saved a shot from Yiannakis Okkas. Mikkelsen had been at fault for the game’s opening goal, bringing down Michalis Constandinou who made no mistake from the penalty spot after 14 minutes.

Cyprus failed to ram home their early dominance and the Faroes were quickly back on level terms with Claus Bech Jorgensen heading home from a free kick. The visitors were rewarded with a second goal two minutes before half-time, Rogvi Jakobsen scoring with a shot from the distance.

Cyprus, defeated by Ireland and Israel in their opening two qualifiers, attacked with renewed vigour after the break but were denied by the efforts of Mikkelsen until Thorsteinsson’s late mistake.

CYPRUS: Panayiotou; Nicolaou, Okkarides (Costas Kaiafas 61), Makrides ( Neophytou 68), Okkas, Charalambides, Constandinou, 1 Charalambous, Georegiou, Elia, Krassas (Satsias 46)

FAROE ISLANDS: Mikkelsen; Olsen, Thorsteinsson, Roi Jakobsen (Petersen 76), Jakobsen, Benjaminsen, Johnsson, Borg, Frederiksberg (Flotum 69), Bech Jorgensen (Danielsen 46), Johannessen

Referee: Zohrab Gadiev (Azerbaijan).