Dingli Swallows 0
Lija Athletic 2
Lija Bounced Back To Winning Ways After Losing To Vittoriosa Stars In Their Previous Match To Go Second In The Table, Two Points Behind Leaders St Andrews.
Despite Lija’S Dominance, It Had To Be An Own Goal 18 Minutes From Time That Paved The Way For Their Victory. The Second Goal Sealed It For Lija As Dingli Finished The Match With Ten Players.
Erjon Beu’S First-Time Effort From Outside The Box Early On Looked Menacing But Luckily For Dingli The Ball Took A Deflection For A Corner Off A Defender.
Dingli Threatened Through Senior David. He Headed Just Over The Bar From Routing Distance From A Lyden Micallef Corner.
Proceedings At This Stage Were Equally Shared As Lija Protested Heavily For A Penalty When Ricardo Severino Goncalves Went Down Inside The Dingli Box But The Referee Showed A Yellow Card To The Lija Striker For Simulation.
Lija Were Unlucky When Andre Scicluna’S Header Hit A Post From A Beu Free-Kick And From The Rebound Goncalves Was Denied By Goalkeeper Jeffrey Farrugia Who Saved His Side Again Soon After When Stopping An Abdullahi Adeshina Ige Shot.
Lija Had To Wait Until The 72nd Minute To Open The Score When Etienne Farrugia Deflected The Ball Into His Own Net From A Beu Cross.
Any Hopes The Swallows Might Have Had To Save The Match Suffered A Severe Setback On 84 Minutes When Emanuel Muscat Was Sent Off For A Second Booking.
Lija Made Sure Of The Points In Stoppage Time When Ige Rounded Two Defenders Before Planting The Ball Home From Close Range.
Dingli: J. Farrugia, K. Pace, R. Briffa, F. Cauchi, L. Konda, R. Vella (E. Muscat), S. David, E. Farrugia, E. Grech, L. Micallef, R. Micallef (A. Portelli).
Lija: L. Bonnici, C. Giordmaina, M. Fleri Soler, D. Scerri, E. Beu, E. Briffa (A. Mercieca), B. Fenech (T. Fleri Soler), A. Scicluna, B. Antignolo, R. Goncalves (A. Sacco), A. Ige.
Referee: Andrew James Sammut.
Man Of The Match: Jeffrey Farrugia (Dingli Swallows).
Vittoriosa Stars 3
Birżebbuġa St Peter’S 1
After Beating High Flying Lija, Vittoriosa Chalked Up Another Precious Win Last Night To Move Further Up The Standings.
Vittoriosa Showed Their True Worth In The Second Half And Could Have Scored More Goals Had It Not Been For Some Good Goalkeeping By Birżebbuġa’S Ivan Casha.
Siraj Arab’S Inclusion In The Second Half Did A Lot Of Good To Vittoriosa But The Player Who Caught The Eye Most Was Gary Muir Who Covered Acres Of Space And Worked Hard From Start To Finish.
Birżebbuġa Pushed Forward In Attack Early On And On Eight Minutes Vinicius Pereira Dos Santos Put The Saints Into The Lead From The Penalty Spot After Stars Defender Ramon Dos Santos Handed The Ball Inside His Own Area.
But Oliver Spiteri’S Side Hit Back Strongly. Marcelo Periera Was Thwarted By Casha And On 25 Minutes Muir Found Lydon Micallef But The Latter Shot Inches Wide From Just Inside The Area.
Vittoriosa Missed A Sitter When The Unmarked Micallef Blasted Wide With Only The Goalkeeper To Beat. Kenneth Spiteri Saved Birżebbuġa When Keeping Out A Micallef Header Following A Periera Cross.
Then, Just Before The Break, Birżebbuġa’S Zoran Vuckovic Beat The Offside Trap But His Effort Came Off The Stars’ Woodwork.
Vittoriosa, However, Drew Level On 50 Minutes When Marcelo Periera Latched On To A Muir Pass And Hit A Superb Drive With The Ball Flying Into The Net Via The Bar.
The Stars Went Close Again A Couple Of Times Before Arab, Who Had Been On The Field For Barely A Few Minutes, Did Well To Control A Long Ball And Slotting Home Past The Keeper.
Vittoriosa Continued To Dictate Matters And Six Minutes From Time They Sealed The Issue When Micallef Was Brought Down By Spiteri Inside The Box And Muir Did Not Miss From The Penalty Spot.
Vittoriosa: J.M. Vella, M. Buttigieg, S. Grech (S. Arab), R. Brincat, R. Dos Santos, L. Vella Critien, G. Muir, A. Spiteri (M. Barbara), L. Micallef, M. Tabone, M. Periera (C. Piscopo).
Birżebbuġa: I. Casha, K. Spiteri, J. Farrugia, P. Camilleri, R. Mintoff, K. Borg, F. Peplow, Z. Vuckovic, T. Dos Santos Mazzitelli, M. Mifsud (M. Camilleri), V. Periera Dos Santos.
Referee: Jude Amin Utulu.
Man Of The Match: Gary Muir (Vittoriosa Stars).