Pietà Hotspurs 1
Pisani 65;
Żebbuġ Rangers 0
A second-half goal from Jurgen Pisani handed Pietà Hotspurs the three points in this clash between the two newly-promoted sides yesterday.
It was a hard-fought victory for the Hotspurs who had to contend with a battling Rangers side that showed the better fare for long stretches of the match.
However, Żebbuġ were undone by their lack of cutting edge upfront and were duly punished by a more efficient Pietà who struck the killer blow midway through the second half.
Pietà did well to administer their advantage and bag a priceless victory that sees them moving off the bottom places.
Żebbuġ were off to a fast start and after three minutes Yessous Camilleri connected with Carlo Monti’s corner but his header came off the bar.
After that early scare Pietà gradually came more into the picture but still it was Żebbuġ who remained the more dangerous side.
On 22 minutes, Monti almost profited from a lack of cohesion between Orosco Anonam, a late call-up to the starting XI for the injured Leonardo Fortunato, and goalkeeper David Cassar. However, the Scottish midfielder was denied by a timely intervention by the Hotspurs no.1.
Pietà threatened on 26 minutes when Pisani’s cross picked out Rafael Xavier whose dipping header finished just wide.
The match remained bereft of scoring opportunities and five minutes from the break Noel Coleiro withdrew Gabriel and roped in Dylan Agius, a decision that did not go down well with the Brazilian midfielder who had a heated verbal exchange with his coach.
On the restart, Pietà showed signs of improvement and on 52 minutes Kyle Cesare played in Anonam who fired just wide.
The Rangers responded with a Britto drive that forced Cassar into a diving save.
On 64 minutes, Żebbuġ protested for a penalty when Monti fell under the challenge from Rodrigues but the referee waved play on.
Pietà immediately charged forward with Rafael Xavier powering into the penalty area before sending a cross towards Pisani who stabbed the ball home from close in. That proved to be the winner.
Żebbuġ coach Jesmond Zammit introduced Bojan Mamic and the latter almost grabbed the leveller on 83 minutes when he reached Mathias Mucchardi’s cross but his header was pushed away by the alert Cassar.
Pietà Hotspurs
D. Cassar-6, C. Attard-6, C. Grech-6, O. Anonam-6.5, J. Pisani-7, K. Cesare-6 (74 L. Micallef), Gabriel-4 (40 D. Agius-5.5), C. Cassar-6, N. Tasic-6, R. Rodrigues Da Silva-6, R. Xavier-6.5 (89 M. Licari).
Żebbuġ Rangers
F. Rapchan-6, R. Mandic-6.5, L. Galea-5, M. Gauci-5 (85 M. Ciantar), Y. Camilleri-6, M. Mucchardi-6.5, T. Paris-5, C. Monti-6.5 (74 B. Mamic), M. Britto-5, J. Nwoba-4, M. Bartolo-5.5 (79 M. Farrugia).
Referee: Fyodor Zammit.
Yellow cards: Anonam, Camilleri, Attard.
BOV player of the match: Rafael Xavier (Pietà Hotspurs).