Last-gasp winner lifts Mqabba

St Andrew's 0
Mqabba 1

Mqabba scored an important goal in the 90th minute against a spirited St Andrew's side to join Marsa and Tarxien in second place in the standings behind St George's.

Mqabba sorely missed suspended striker Uchanna Anywanna.

The Saints shaded the early exchanges but Mqabba tried to hit back. Joseph Sant Fournier, aided by Nicky Micallef and Garrett Bartolo, covered acres of space in midfield for St Andrew's who were determined to make life difficult for the promotion-seekers.

Mqabba, however, could have taken the lead in the 37th minute when from a Pierre Grima corner, Justin Tellus's header was cleared off the line by Junior Sank with goalkeeper Jonathan Debono beaten.

Four minutes before the break Tellus found space in the Saints' box following a goalmouth melee but the former Valletta and Birkirkara player mistimed his shot.

Mqabba should have been awarded a penalty on 50 minutes when Keith Mallia burst through the Saints' defence and was floored by Sank in the area. The referee, however, waved play on amid protests from the Mqabba players.

Mqabba held the initiative and again Tellus could have done better when an inch-perfect Grima cross was headed wide by the experienced defender on 69 minutes.

A Roderick Spiteri cross was headed towards the St Andrew's goal by Jean Paul Muscat but Debono did well to turn the ball away to a corner.

St Andrew's looked on their way to snatch an unlikely point but Mqabba scored the winner in the final minute of regular time when a Spiteri shot from the left deceived Debono with the ball flying home into the net.

Hot arguments broke out after Spiteri's goal between officials from both sides on the subs' bench.

St Andrew's: J. Debono, S. Falzon, R. Briffa, J. Sank, B. Galea, M. Hyzler (M. Ellul), J. Sant Fournier, N. Micallef, G. Bartolo, A. Galea (I. Borg), B. Chetcuti (M. Borg Olivier).

Mqabba: K. Calleja, J. Tellus, P. Grima, A. Busuttil (R. Spiteri), M. Gauci, M.A. Psaila, M. Briffa, M. Borg (C. Borg), K. Mallia, J.P. Muscat, M. Anastasi (E. Borg).

Referee: Alan Mario Sant.

Lija Athletic 0
Naxxar Lions 4

A Chima Dozie hat-trick won the match for Naxxar in their derby against Lija, thus avenging the 1-0 first-round upset to the same opponents and putting them in a more comfortable position. Second from bottom Lija will have to struggle hard to avoid the drop this season.

The scoreline suggests an easy victory for the Lions but until Lija were 1-0 down they were still in the game.

Then, a dubious decision by the referee, when Gianluca Calabretta looked through, and a subsequent sending-off ruined Lija's day.

After four minutes a Dozie shot was stopped by Jonathan Vella who was deputising for the suspended Etienne Mercieca in the Lija goal.

That was a warning from the Nigerian striker who did not miss five minutes later. His surging run from the right was finished off with a blistering drive that gave Vella no chance.

Lija had an Alan Ellul header just missing the target and Calabretta's effort hitting the side-netting.

They continued to push more men forward and Calabretta forced a good save from Kevin Agius after some good work by Zjelko Anicic.

Lija remained in attacking mode at the start of the second half. An Anicic corner was hit first-time by Daniel Scerri but Agius came to Naxxar's rescue with a timely save.

At the other end, Dozie dribbled through the Lija rearguard but his shot lacked precision when he was in a good position to score.

On 70 minutes Calabretta looked to have outpaced his direct marker and ran through the Naxxar goal but the referee stopped play, signalling an infringement. The decision did not go down well with Lija who had Michael Gatt sent off for protests.

To make it worse for them, Victor Bellia released Dozie with a calibrated free-kick and the Nigerian dribbled past a defender before planting the ball home.

Dozie fired Naxxar's third goal 13 minutes from time and Simon Muscat then beat the offside trap before lobbing the ball over Vella's head to make it 4-0.

Lija woes were compounded in the 86th minute when Agius turned to corner Elton Azzopardi's penalty, given for a handling infringement inside the Lions' box.

Lija: J. Vella, J. Cauchi (J. Camilleri), E. Azzopardi, J.P. Scerri (B. Antignolo), A. Ellul (G. Barry), D. Scerri, M. Gatt, N. Gatt, P. Camilleri, G. Calabretta, Z. Anicic.

Naxxar: K. Agius, G. Naudi (J. Borg), M. Borg, C. Sciberras, R. Schembri, S. Muscat (K. Fenech), T. Fenech, V. Bellia, G. Camilleri (J. Zammit), C. Dozie, C. Tabone.

Referee: Kevin Azzopardi.