St Andrew’s 0
Żejtun Corinthians 1
Żejtun Corinthians handed league leaders St Andrew’s only their second defeat of the season to get back in the hunt for promotion.
After this win, Żejtun are only three points adrift of the Saints.
The match turned out to be a balanced affair with scoring chances few and far between. Both teams found it hard to cope with the heavy rain during the second half.
The Corinthians looked more comfortable on the ball in these conditions and after taking the lead, they managed to keep the Saints at bay.
It was Żejtun who dominated the initial stages. After six minutes, Oldi Majtara’s cross-shot finished inches wide.
On 16 minutes, St Andrew’s goalkeeper Matthew Towns showed great skills to repel Charlò Magro’s curling shot from a free-kick.
St Andrew’s continued to struggle tough with Żejtun looking more determined and fighting for every ball.
The Saints created their first scoring opportunity on 23 minutes when Rumen Kerekov’s grounder was blocked by Żejtun goalkeeper Ranier Farrugia.
On the half-hour Żejtun came close to surging ahead when Albanian Blendi Gockay’s close-range header finished wide.
St Andrew’s response saw Nicky Vella Petroni release Michael Grima who, with only Farrugia to beat, chipped the ball wide.
After the restart, Żejtun took the initiative and managed to score what proved to be the winner on 63 minutes.
Majtara and Zvezdan Vukovic exchanged the ball before the latter sent a teasing cross into the path of Gockay who bundled the ball home.
Dylan Zarb almost made it 2-0 on 80 minutes but his effort was parried away by Towns.
St Andrew’s came close to an equaliser three minutes later when from another free-kick, Joseph Farrugia hit a curling shot that was pushed away by Żejtun keeper Farrugia.
Deep into stoppage time, Żejtun should have wrapped up the points.
In a quick counter-attack, Majtara got behind the St Andrew’s defence but opted to shoot at goal instead of squaring the ball to the unmarked Kurt Zahra.
Towns blocked Majtara’s effort.
St Andrew’s: M. Towns, J. Briscoe White, N. Chetcuti, B. Diacono (L. Cesareo), N. Vella Petroni, J. Farrugia, M. Hyzler (Z. Gatt), M. Grima (M. Desira Buttigieg), W. Camilleri, R. Kerekov, T. Grozev.
Żejtun: R. Farrugia, A. Farrugia, C. Magro, D. Zahra, Z. Kukovic, D. Zarb, K. Vassallo, A. Carabott (E. Azzopardi), O. Majtara, B. Gockaj (K. Zahra), K. Abela.
Referee: Marco Borg.
Man of the match: Karl Vassallo (Żejtun Corinthians).