Vittoriosa trounce Rabat to go top

Vittoriosa Stars 5
Rabat Ajax 2

Vittoriosa Stars have moved a step closer to promotion after trouncing Rabat Ajax 5-2 to regain top spot in Division One, one point ahead of Pietà Hotspurs who had temporarily occupied first place yesterday following their 3-1 win over Mosta in the early kick-off.

Further down the table, Rabat are on the verge of being relegated as they trail third-from-bottom San Ġwann by two points and the latter have a game in hand.

Rabat started as the more aggressive side. After only a minute, Vilson Caushi could have given them the lead but his drive was blocked by Alex Camilleri.

On 15 minutes, Vittoriosa won a penalty after Anthony Eviparker was floored by goalkeeper James Borg. The Nigerian striker drilled his penalty kick into the net to put the Stars 1-0 ahead.

Eight minutes from half-time Rabat's Jonathan Bezzina hit just wide after good work by Joseph Caruana and Smeir.

On the stroke of half-time, Emanuel Muscat missed a sitter when he shot wide from close range.

Vittoriosa made it 2-0 four minutes into the second half. Eviparker ran through, evaded Borg's challenge and passed to the unmarked Kenneth Abela who fired into an empty net.

On 54 minutes, Rabat's Caruana squandered an excellent chance when blasting wide after being freed by Adrian Mifsud. Three minutes later Caruana made amends when he scored from close range.

Minutes later, Keith Darmanin's free-kick was saved for a corner by Borg and from the resulting corner, Rabat's Jonathan Bezzina headed the ball into his own net.

Eviparker put Vittoriosa 4-1 up on 64 minutes. He played a good one-two with Darmanin before slotting the ball home. Four minutes later, Lucien Scerri hit goal number five after he was set up by Eviparker.

With 15 minutes left, Vittoriosa's Scerri spoiled his afternoon when he received a red card for dissent. Two minutes later, Rabat were awarded a penalty when Charles Cachia floored Smeir in the box and the Rabat forward scored from the spot.

Rabat tried to make the score look more respectable in the dying minutes but Vittoriosa held firm.

Vittoriosa: A. Camilleri (J. Micallef), J. Spiteri, L. Scerri, S. Calleja, D. Grech, K. Darmanin (H. Hughes), J. Camilleri, A. Eviparker, C. Cachia (S. Privitelli), P. Aquilina, K. Abela.

Rabat: J. Borg, J. Bezzina, J. Tonna (L. Micallef), J. Caruana, A. Mifsud, A. Smeir, D. Falzon, C. Schembri (G. Magri), E. Muscat, V. Caushi, E. Azzopardi.

Referee: Marco Borg.

Man of the match: Keith Darmanin (Vittoriosa).