Żebbuġ Rangers 2
Monti 35 pen; Britto 79;
Sliema Wanderers 1
Bocar 46;
Żebbuġ Rangers coach Alfonso Greco must have relished the satisfaction of a victory over Sliema Wanderers, the club that sacked him only a few months ago.
Although revenge was the last thing on the Italian mentor’s mind as he prepared Rangers for this clash against the Wanderers, he will have been delighted with the way his players collected three priceless points against 10-man opponents to continue with their quest against the drop.
Also, it was the first time that Paltemio Barbetti was facing his former employers and the onus was on the Rangers midfielder to shine and run the extra mile to prove a point. In reality, the Italian had a rather quiet afternoon.
The absence of Yessous Camilleri and Jacob Borg, out of the frame together with Kurt Zammit because of suspension, left Greco with no option but to field a makeshift defence as Barbetti partnered Lee Galea in central defence, Matthew Bartolo manned the right flank and Matthew Gauci filled in at left-back.
Greco also opted to give debuts to goalkeeper Emanuel Bartolo and English striker Rashid Yussuff.
The return of Andrea Scozzese prompted Stephen Azzopardi to leave out Luca Martinelli. Midfielder Beppe Muscat was also included in the team at the expense of Stefano Biancardi as Djumo Bocar replaced Fabio Mangiacasale who left the Blues last week.
In the opening exchanges, play swung to and fro with high tempo and quality.
Inside the first 10 minutes Sliema had two chances of an early goal.
First, it was Aidan Friggieri who hit beautifully on the turn but his effort crashed against the woodwork with Bartolo stranded. That was followed with an exquisite through-pass from Matias Muchardi towards Yussuff whose grounder was parried by keeper Glenn Zammit.
But Sliema were lacking the spark to pose problems to Żebbuġ as the latter stayed in command and finding plenty of extra space in the middle of the pitch.
Muchardi, facing his former employers, shone brightly yesterday and his straightforward attacking forays from the middle created havoc in the Wanderers area.
On the half hour mark, Mauricio Britto was guilty of some wasteful finishing after he was amply served by Muchardi but his drive towards goal was too feeble to trouble the Sliema keeper.
Rangers kept piling the pressure and it was no surprise that they forged ahead on 35 minutes.
Britto deserves credit for the goal as he sprinted past Zammit before he was hauled down by Scozzese in the box.
The Italian defender was shown a straight red card and from the penalty, Carlo Monti sent Zammit the wrong way to put Rangers 1-0 ahead.
But Sliema were back on level terms soon after the restart.
Marko Potezica picked up the ball near his box and launched a spectacular, long-range pass for Bocar who resisted the challenge from his direct marker before side-footing his shot past Bartolo.
Sliema’s goal, coming just after the break, may have raised expectations of a lively second half but this never happened.
Rangers were beginning to look vulnerable and better finishing from Bocar would have put Sliema in front on 67 minutes. However, with his back to goal, Bocar hit a shot on the turn, after controlling a floating ball from the right on his chest, only to see Bartolo on the right spot to save.
Instead, it was Żebbuġ who scored 11 minutes from time.
Luck was on their side when Zammit flapped at the ball following Monti’s shot and pushed it straight into the path of Britto who slammed home.
Żebbuġ Rangers
E. Bartolo-6, L. Galea-6, M. Farrugia-5.5 (62 M. Ciantar-5), T. Paris-6.5, M. Gauci-6, M. Bartolo-6, M. Muchardi-7, C. Monti-6.5, P. Barbetti-5.5, M. Britto-7, R. Yussuff-5.
Sliema Wanderers
G. Zammit-4.5, A. Scozzese, K.G. Gnabouyou-4 (41 F. Talato-5), J. Mintoff-6.5, M. Scerri-6.5, A. Pisanu-5, M. Potezica-7, T. Cilia-5 (65 L. Martinelli-5), A. Friggieri-6 (85 A. Muscat), D. Bocar-6.5, B. Muscat-5.
Referee: Fyodor Zammit.
Yellow cards: Scerri, Bartolo, Galea, Gauci. Red card Scozzese (SW) 34.
BOV player of the match: Marko Potezica (Sliema Wanderers).