Msida St Joseph 2
Lija Athletic 2

Msida St Joseph secured the point they needed to make sure of their Division One status and condemn Żejtun Corinthians to relegation.

The Saints deserved their point as they fought hard to hold Lija Athletic who are only vying for a third-place finish.

After falling 2-1 behind, it was substitute Stephane Georgie Banzio who saved the day for Msida when scoring the equaliser nine minutes from time.

Lija Athletic made the better start, putting their opponents under a lot of pressure.

Despite making most of the running, Brian Spiteri’s side were never dangerous with Msida coming more into the picture as the first half moved on.

After nine minutes, Ayrton Azzopardi’s drive from just outside the area was saved by Kris Calleja, the Lija goalkeeper.

Three minutes later, Msida’s Robert Assio’o turned well in the box but fired wide and, midway into the first half, Ariel Laudisi’s effort was saved by Calleja.

Lija went close on 31 minutes, Mario Caruana clearing off the line a Beppe Antignolo drive following a melee inside the area.

Five minutes later, Msida forged ahead when Laudisi swept into the box to reach Azzopardi’s through-pass and hit home.

Lija were more aggressive when the second half got underway. They were unlucky after two minutes when Jean Paul Scerri’s attempt from just inside the area was cleared off the line by Dylan Attard.

The score became even on 51 minutes.

From a quick counter-attack, Antignolo curled the ball into the net for a great goal.

Lija continued to play the better football and on 61 minutes, they took the lead.

It was Antignolo who served up another fine goal, similar to his first 10 minutes earlier. Babic set up Antignolo who sped past Gaetano Gesualdi and drove the ball into the net.

But a minute later, Lija suffered a setback when Ryan Sell was shown a red card for a foul on Laudisi.

Then, on 81 minutes, Banzio, who had only been on the pitch for six minutes, made it 2-2, bundling the ball home with his chest from Azzopardi’s cross.

With five minutes to go, Assio’o’s fierce free-kick, from around 30 metres out, brought a brilliant save from Calleja who tipped the ball away for a corner.

Msida kept possession in the remaining minutes to hold on to the point they needed to retain their Division One status.

Msida: J.M. Vella, G. Gesualdi, M. Borda, S. Vella, L. Cassar, M. Caruana (D. Cachia), D. Attard, A. Azzopardi, R. Assio’o, S. Magro (S. Banzio), A. Laudisi.

Lija: K. Calleja, T. Fleri Soler (E. Briffa), C. Giordmaina, D. Scerri, R. Sell, M. Potezica, P. Babic, L. Micallef, B. Antignolo (B. Chetcuti), A. Ige, J.P. Scerri.

Referee: Jude Ameen Utulu.

Man of the match: Beppe Antignolo (Lija Athletic).

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